BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental will very likely remain under Alert Level 3 status for the remainder of February, according to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases have not gone down substantially unlike in the last quarter of 2021, he said.
Nonetheless, Lacson expressed hope that infections will eventually go down similar to what is happening in other areas of the country.
As of Feb. 7, the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) reported 3,455 active COVID-19 cases. But these are far from the October and September 2021 cases recorded when the province peaked above the 4,000 line.
The province also recorded 75 new cases on Feb. 7.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the third round of the National Vaccination Days, Lacson instructed Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz to maintain the province’s record as a top performer.
The national government is aiming to vaccinate five million individuals for the third round of the “Bayanihan Bakunahan” which would be on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11.
The Provincial Health Office (PHO) in Negros Occidental expressed renewed optimism that it would be able to hit 70 percent of the target population of 1.825 million fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of this month following a slowdown due to super typhoon “Odette” in December of last year.
Data as of Feb. 4 showed the province having 59.40 percent fully-vaccinated people, or roughly 1,084,254 individuals.
The province has a 2.607 million total population.
Lacson said there is a need to exert effort to meet the target.
“We should really give it a final push if we want to meet the February deadline so it would be a photo finish,” he added.
Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said the government’s advocacy is important in convincing the people to avail themselves of the COVID-19 jabs.
He added though there is an abundant supply of vaccines, there are no takers, particularly in areas with less than 50 percent accomplishment rate.
“There are still those who don’t know why they need to get vaccinated and are not aware of the importance of the vaccine, that’s a major concern,” Tumimbang said./PN
