Mayor Evelio Leonardia said Thursday, August 12, that there has been a steady decline of COVID-19 infections in Bacolod City during the last two weeks, but he appealed to the public not to let their guard down because the COVID spread is difficult to predict.
“While we welcome the decline at a time when cases are surging in other areas, we should not let our guard down because the pattern of COVID infections is unpredictable. It’s been a roller coaster ride with COVID since early last year,” Leonardia said.
Real-time data shows only two-digit new cases in Bacolod in the last 14 days, averaging 36 cases per day, City Administrator Em Ang, Emergency Operations Center executive director, said.
In June, Bacolod was registering three-digit new cases daily, averaging 119 per day, but new cases slipped to 73 daily in July, Ang said.
This development came as Bacolod City’s vaccination campaign received an added shot in the arm from the National Inter-Agency Task Force which allocated 15,000 doses of the US-made Moderna vaccines through Secretary Carlito Galvez.
“Let us thank Secretary Galvez for fulfilling his promise to me that the NIATF will give us the Moderna vaccines,” Leonardia said.
Since the declaration of the pandemic COVID cases in Bacolod reached 15,978 with recoveries booked at 15,124 or a recovery rate of 94.66 percent, Ang said.
As of Wednesday this week, Bacolod only has 467 active cases, she said.
“We are, therefore, appealing for your continued understanding and full cooperation if we want to keep the rate of infections down by following minimum health protocols such as wearing of face masks and face shields when necessary, social distancing and observance of proper sanitation and regular disinfection and following relevant stipulations of our Executive Order under the current General Community Quarantine with Heightened Restrictions (GCQ-HR),” Leonardia said.
Under the GCQ-HR people are discouraged from attending mass gatherings that could be super spreaders, Ang said.
Our compliance means that we are not only protecting ourselves but also our families and the community as well, she added.*