More COVID-19 cases are expected with arrivals and gatherings during the Christmas holidays and the lifting of the rule on the mandatory use of face masks.
Active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental hit 290 on Monday, November 14, with seven deaths this month, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said it is normal for the cases to increase with the easing of COVID-19 protocols, and the increase in travel.
President Ferdinand Marcos earlier issued an executive order stating that it is no longer mandatory to wear masks indoors and outdoors.
The majority of those who died from COVID-19 were unvaccinated, Diaz said.
The Cadiz District Hospital, the COVID-19 designated facility of the province, has 71 patients, 44 of whom have tested positive for COVID-19 and 27 are suspected cases, or a 79.78 percent occupancy rate, he said.
He said other hospitals have a 20 to 26 percent COVID-19 occupancy rate.
Most of the patients only discovered that they had COVID-19 after they were tested in compliance with the protocol for hospital admission for other ailments, he said.*