Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, along with the rest of the Philippines, will remain under Alert Level 2 until January 15, Acting Presidential Spokesman Karlo Nograles said Thursday, December 30.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Wednesday approved the recommendation to maintain all provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities under Alert Level 2 from Jan. 1 to 15, 2022, he said.
The IATF recommendation was made amid the threat of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, with four cases already detected in the country.
Health officials in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City have urged residents to continue to strictly comply with health protocols to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Mass gatherings over the holidays could trigger a surge in COVID-19 cases in January, they warned.
Bacolod City that has had single digit new daily cases of COVID-19 recovered cases but on Wednesday it had 16 new cases, the Department of Health reported.*