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Image from UnsplashThe Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF) is discouraging the public from attending social gatherings or dining out with people who are not members of their own household.The warning came after an administrative officer of a hospital in Bacolod tested positive for COVID-19, a press release said.The index, according to the contact tracing report, shows that the officer attended several social gatherings before the symptoms of COVID-19 set in.“Let's discourage social gatherings and eating out with people outside one’s household,” said EOC contact tracing head Dr. Rosalie Deocampo during the EOC huddle Thursday, March 25.Deocampo also reiterated that anyone showing COVID-19 symptoms must seek early consultation.The Bacolod Resp...

City PIO photoThe Philippine National Police (PNP) vowed to continue working hand-in-hand with the city mayors around the country to promote and preserve peace and order in the community.“Our police are here for your protection and our citizens,” PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said.Eleazar, a former director of the National Capital Region (NCR) Police Office, made this statement during the first-ever online dialog between the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the PNP Wednesday, March 24.Initiated by LCP national president, Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, the dialog was sought as a follow up to their call for justice for slain Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino and to further enhance the collaboration between the police and the local chief ...

Mayor Melecio Yap Jr. being vaccinated against COVID-19 on March 19.*Escalante LGU photo*Escalante Mayor Melecio Yap Jr. said Wednesday, March 24, he is ready to answer any show cause order for having been vaccinated against COVID-19 in alleged violation of the priority list, as he did it to convince hesitant health care workers (HCWs) in his city that the Sinovac vaccines are safe.Yap, who has not received any show cause order yet, said he has not done anything wrong.It was a call of duty to convince the HCWs to be vaccinated, and he is ready to go to jail or accept any penalty for his actions, Yap said.The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has been directed to investigate mayors who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 despite their not being medical...

303rd IB photoTwo more suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in an encounter with state troopers in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, on Tuesday, March 23, bringing the death toll to 10.Maj. Cenon Pancito III, public affairs office chief of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said the soldiers are still conducting pursuit operations against the fleeing rebels, who withdrew towards the northwest direction of Sitio Agit in Barangay Trinidad.Soldiers who scoured the area found two more dead bodies Wednesday, March 24, he said, adding that they could have been wounded from the firefight and died.Pursuing soldiers also captured two suspected rebels who were hiding in the vicinity, he said.Pancito identified the arrested persons as Jojo Sa...

The Cadiz City Hall 2 is temporarily closed until further notice*The Cadiz City Hall 2 has temporarily been closed for disinfection until further notice after four employees and two policemen tested positive for COVID-19, Mayor Salvador Escalante said Wednesday, March 24.The mayor said a department head tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and 36 were swabbed for RT-PCR tests on Monday.This resulted in three employees in the same department and two policemen who came in contact with the department head at a meeting also testing positive for the virus, Escalante saidEscalante said 55 more employees at City Hall II were swabbed Wednesday for RT PCR tests.The reopening of City Hall 2 where about 300 employees work could be on Monday, but will depend on whether there are ...

Three more health care workers at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City, who received their first Sinovac jabs, have tested positive for COVID-19, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said Wednesday, March 24.This brings the number to five with two CLMMRH nurses, who also received their first vaccine doses, having tested positive earlier.Sorongon said those who tested positive at the CLMMRH this week were a nurse, a human resource employee, and a radiologic technologist.Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, who confirmed that the three had received their first Sinovac jabs, said those who have been vaccinated can still be infected with COVID-19.However, they will not suffer moderate to s...

There were 400,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines from China that arrived in the Philippines on board a Philippine Airlines chartered flight Wednesday, March 24.*Western Visayas is expected to receive 65,000 more doses of Sinovac vaccines with the arrival of 400,000 from China on Wednesday, March 25, Dr. Jane Juanico, Department of Health 6 infectious disease cluster head said.Bacolod City will receive 5,000 additional Sinovac doses and Negros Occidental will get 12,000 doses, she said.The additional vaccines are being allocated to health care workers (HCWs) not covered by the initial rollout, she said.Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said they were informed that the vaccination of senior citizens could start in May...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson turning over P11.9 million the hospital subsidy to Mayor Marilyn Era.*Capitol photosNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson turned over P33.7 million for the operational expenses of two hospitals in northern Negros Occidental on Tuesday, March 23.The management of the Vicente Gustilo District Hospital in Escalante City and Calatrava District Hospital in Calatrava town had earlier been turned over by the provincial government to the local governments where they are located.Lacson turned over a check worth P21,786,000 to Escalante Mayor Melecio Yap Jr. representing the financial subsidy of the provincial government for the operational expenses of the Vicente Gustilo District Hospital.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson turning over the check for P21.7 milli...