PCL Negros Occidental president Ryan Gamboa presents a plaque of appreciation to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson at the summit on Thursday*Richard Malihan photo
“Let us not allow pandemic fatigue.”
That was stressed by Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson in his speech at the Western Visayas Philippine Councilors League unity summit at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod City Thursday, August 4.
The theme of the summit is “One Region, One Goal for a United PCL”.
Lacson said with all the challenges being faced, local officials of the region cannot afford not to be united in working towards recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Now it is quite clear that the pandemic might be here longer than we thought,“ he said, noting that as officials they know how the COVID crisis has exhausted resources and drained the energy of many.
“I understand in some places, ‘pandemic fatigue’ has started to set in, resulting in the passiveness of people in the observance of health protocols. Let us not allow this to happen in our respective local government units,” Lacson said.
COVID is still present and it is the responsibility of public servants to encourage and ensure that health protocols remain in place “so we can focus on our response and recovery efforts”, Lacson said.
Lacson said he hopes the PCL summit will be an effective avenue and opportunity to learn, discuss and develop needed strategies “as we seek better governance to reclaim what the pandemic took and to cushion the blow to our people, industries and economy”.
Negros Occidental had 22 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday for a total of 140 active cases, the Provincial Incident Management team reported.
Bacolod City had 19 new cases for a total of 116 active cases, the Department of Health 6 also reported on Thursday.
Western Visayas currently has 2,251 active COVID-19 cases, with the highest in Iloilo province at 1,003, the DOH 6 added.*