The number of occupants at quarantine facilities in Negros Occidental are hitting critical levels with the daily triple-digit rise in COVID-19 cases, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, May 5.
The COVID-19 positive cases in the province in April were more than 4,000, the highest since the pandemic started in March last year, he said.
Negros Occidental also had 2,565 active COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.
“It’s a record high already, it is way above last year’s figures. It is something to be worried about…obviously the vaccines would really be the solution but unfortunately our country is not receiving enough for a speedier rollout,” Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
In fact now the focus is on the National Capital Region Plus, he said.
The national government has said that they will focus the vaccine rollout on areas that have high incidents of COVID-19, so the provinces get whatever they give, Lacson said.
Since March last year, Negros Occidental has had 12,462 COVID-19 cases, with 281 deaths, the PIMT report Wednesday showed.
Negros Occidental’s new COVID-19 cases on Sunday were 227, Monday – 244, Tuesday – 210 and Wednesday – 141, the Department of Health reported.
“Our concern is our quarantine sites all over the province are hitting critical levels,” Diaz said.
The provincial government’s healing center in EB Magalona has occupants above it capacity, he said.
The one thing we are thankful for is that although a lot have tested positive, the majority are asymptomatic or have mild cases of COVID-19, Diaz said.
Hospitals in Negros Occidental are at 70 percent occupancy, there are still vacancies for those suffering from moderate to severe symptoms, he said.*