OCTA Research Group has tagged Bacolod City and two other cities as “areas of concern” following the rise in their COVID-19 cases.
The independent research group in a report released Saturday, May 8, said the two other cities are Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
OCTA said from May 1 to 7 Bacolod’s COVID-19 cases increased by 19 percent, had a daily attack rate of 13.38 percent with hospital occupancy at 50 percent and ICU at 49 percent.
The Department of Health in Western Visayas has also tagged Bacolod City as a high risk area for COVID-19. The city had 935 active COVID-19 cases on Sunday, May 9, the DOH reported.
City Administrator Em-Ang said the OCTA tagging of Bacolod as an area of concern is to be expected because its cases were very low from January to mid-March this year and then they suddenly spiked following the surge of cases in the National Capital Region and Cebu.
In early March, the city even had zero cases on some days, said Ang, who is the executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center.
Ang said from averaging 3 to 8 cases per day all of a sudden Bacolod’s average cases per day in April was 47, and 70 plus in the first few days of May.
In terms of percentage of increase, the rise in COVID-19 cases has been big and needs to be closely watched, she said.
But she noted that real time data on Sunday showed that Bacolod’s cases were down to 45 cases.
Ang stressed the need for those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or feeling lethargic to consult a doctor immediately.
Waiting too long before seeking medical help could be too late, she said.*