The COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are on the rise again and are suspected to have been triggered by the Delta variant, officials said Friday, September 3.
The active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental Friday were 971 from 645 on August 23, or an increase of 326 cases in less than two weeks, the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) reported.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Negros Occidental were 588 on August 23, with 602 on August 31 and 620 on September 3,the PIMT added.
“There have been a number of days where we had triple digit increases, it’s that rollercoaster ride – it goes up, it goes down,” Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
“Personally I’d like to think we can already attribute that to the Delta variant, because we all know the Delta is more contagious,” Lacson said.
“But then again let’s not be so concerned about the kind of variant, we should be concerned that the virus is still here…we just have to do our share by protecting ourselves,” he said.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the COVID-19 cases have been rising throughout the country, “we just have to be ahead of the surge…to tests as fast as possible and isolate immediately so the cases do not increase,” he said.
City Administrator Em Ang, Emergency Operations Center executive director, also said there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City and hospital occupancy has gone up lately.
On September 1, Bacolod City had 37 COVID-19 cases, September 2 – 52, and September 3 – 98, she said.
There have also been two COVID-19 deaths on September 1 and 2, she added.
They also suspect that the increase is being caused by the Delta variant, she said.
Bacolod City had 1,002 active COVID-19 cases on Friday, the Department of Health reported.*