BY MATÈ ESPINA
ACTIVE cases of COVID-19 hit an all-time high in Negros Occidental, registering 1,936 as of Thursday, the highest since the pandemic reached the province over a year ago.
Negros Occidental Gov. Bong Lacson said the continuous surge may prompt him to request for an extension of the travel moratorium which will end on April 19.
Thursday, the province recorded in real-time, 290 new cases of which 213 are local transmissions while 62 are from returning overseas Filipinos and a few other returning individuals and APORs.
Bacolod City also registered 81 new cases based on DOH reports last Thursday and over 500 active cases. But yesterday morning, Dr. Chris Sorongon of the city’s Emergency Operations Center said that 72 fresh cases were recorded Thursday night. This is expected to increase before DOH gives out its official report which we all know is not in real time.
Several government facilities have been closed as the virus spreads among employees. The latest is the Hall of Justice that closed its doors after five employees got hit by COVID-19.
The La Carlota Hospital also suspended its operations after six personnel manning the laboratory got infected while further down south, the municipal hall of Cauayan also closed as five councilors and six of their staff tested positive.
Cauayan is a small town yet they are among the seven localities around the province that currently have 3-digit active cases and it all started from a resident who attended a cockfight derby in neighboring Ilog town a couple of weeks ago. That particular derby has been a source of many COVID cases in the province.
Bago City Hall also closed its doors after 60 employees tested positive. But Bacolod City which registered 50 employees positive of the virus said they will not suspend operations but issued a new work-scheme were others can work at home while some will go on shifting schedule.
City Administrator and EOC chair, Em Ang said that they are currently tracing close contacts of these employees as some members of their families were also infected and have been quarantined.
Among COVID’s latest victim was a very close friend of our family, Dr. Julian Raca who passed away Tuesday. Julian had been vaccinated with Sinovac but I was told that when he got his second dose last April 8, he was already manifesting some symptoms. He was hypertensive and diabetic and he succumbed so fast that in less than 48 hours after he was hospitalized, he passed away.
Gov. Bong Lacson made a public appeal to do away with non-essential gatherings and ordered the tourism office to inform resorts in LGUs which has triple digit active cases to close down. He lauded Sipalay Mayor Gina Lizares who ordered resorts closed in her city despite having a low number of active cases as preventive measure. Sipalay is a popular tourism destination for its pristine beaches.
At present, there are seven LGUs in Negros Occidental with 3-digit active cases and topping the list is San Carlos City with 317, Kabankalan City with 154, Himamaylan City with 148 along with the cities of Cadiz and Bago and the towns of Cauayan and Murcia.
The same call was made in Bacolod after many cases were traced to “after parties, after kasal, after bunyag, lubong.” One such example is an after-party following an event in a southern city. A source said that of the 30 attendees, 17 tested positive later, including a mayor who was reportedly hospitalized.
It is quite ironic that “KBL” as we’d like to call it – kasal, bunyag, lubong – are the same events frequented by officials if not for COVID-19.
Speaking of politics, the threat is imminent for Bacolod Mayor Bing Leonardia who may be challenged in the next elections by billionaire, and former Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Albee Benitez.
Albee is being pushed by several sectors to run against the well-entrenched and longest-sitting mayor and so far, the call is being supported by many in social media. Albee who is usually mum when asked about his political plans recently said that his “options are open,” and will likely take the challenge seriously after he was seen visiting a market place this week.
In terms of publicity hype, Albee does not need to pretend he is not well-off and took advantage of his resources by securing vaccines for Negros Occidental and Bacolod from DOH Manila via his private plane.
Early this week, he brought back 11,400 doses of Sinovac for the province’s frontliners and another 3,000 for Bacolod which of course generated positive reviews for him in social media posts. He said it was to hasten delivery of vaccines and to ensure we got our share after finding out that some vaccines initially appropriated for Negros was diverted to other provinces.
In response, Mayor Bing said he is “not ready to attend to politics. I want to ensure the safety and health of the people first.”
Ah, but I am sure his people are running, maybe not really scared, but definitely anxious. Because while political dynamics is quite different in Bacolod, Albee is known as a political kingmaker and has lots of allies both at the local and national arena./PN
