The Bacolod City government served a 48-hour suspension of operations order on Transcom Bacolod late this afternoon, Feb. 1, after 41 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19, City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan said.
Bayatan said the suspension order was served late this afternoon because Transcom Bacolod personnel told the CLO enforcement team they would have to wait for their general manager Martin Torejon.
Transcom also asked that they be allowed to suspend operations late today after their day shift ends work, which means it will be allowed to resume operations on Thursday yet, Bayatan said.
Torejon, when reached by DIGICAST NEGROS, said he had no comment yet on the matter.
Bayatan said Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia issued the suspension order by virtue of the emergency powers granted him by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod during the existing public health emergency.
The order suspending Transcom’s operations was issued to enable the city government to conduct sanitation and disinfection of the Transcom facility in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod, he said.
However, Bayatan said city personnel were only able to disinfect the outside premises of Transcom as there were still personnel working inside the facility today. The disinfection inside the building will follow, he said.
Transcom has asked that their personnel who were part of the contact tracing operations who tested negative be allowed to resume work on Thursday after they are re-tested and yield the same results, Bayatan said.
However, the city government will require that such employees be examined by city health personnel before cleared to return to work, Bayatan said.
All of the 41 Transcom employees who tested positive, including two who attempted to escape, as of today are all accounted for and are in isolation facilities, City Administrator Em Ang, Emergency Operations Center executive director, said.
She said when the city extraction team arrived in an ambulance at the house of a Transcom COVID-positive employee in Barangay Singcang, Bacolod, the family would not give any information on her whereabouts but she was later found at the house of her sibling in Barangay Cabug.
Another COVID-positive employee who could not initially be located was also later found in EB Magalona, she said.
It would seem like they are not taking the COVID-19 threat seriously, Ang said.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical data and analysis, said the close contacts of the 41 who tested negative are also under home quarantine.
Ang said earlier said that while Transcom registered for the Bacolod Contact Tracing (BaC-Trac) system, it has not been using it as it has no login history. That means they have not been scanning the QR codes of persons entering the building, she said.
The BaCTrac enables the city government to swiftly trace persons who were in the building at the same time as those who were found positive for the virus, she said.
Five other Business Process Outsourcing Centers in Bacolod have also been non-compliant with the BaCTrac system and have been sent reminders, she said.
The outbreak at Transcom is a stark reminder that this nightmare with COVID is not yet over, she said.
“We would like to remind everyone to continue to strictly observe proper health protocols to keep the workplace coronavirus-free,” Ang said.
This includes keeping at least 1-meter social physical distance, regular washing of hands, and use of face masks on and off the office premises, she said.
Offices are also urged to strictly maintain and enforce prevention protocols that include compliance with the BaCTrac system, thermal scanning, provision of alcohol, sanitizer, and face mask for employees, and footbath and hand washing stations for all incoming clients at various strategic locations in the workplace, she added.
Employees experiencing flu-like symptoms must be immediately sent home and consult a doctor or call the EOC telemed hotline, she said.*