MANILA – The OCTA Research Group tagged Bacolod City as among the “areas of concern” for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), citing the spike in infections there.
In its report released over the weekend, the group said COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City have become worrisome. From May 1 to 7, the city recorded a 19-percent increase in cases.
Bacolod City also registered a daily attack rate (number of new cases per 100,000 population) at 13.38.
Its hospital occupancy is now at 50 percent and Intensive Care Unit occupancy at 49 percent.
OCTA Research fellow Guido David, however, told a television network that “di pa naman alarming ito.”
“Based on history, nakikita natin na itong smaller LGUs (local government units) like Bacolod City, mas mabilis nila nako-control ang situation,” David explained.
During last week’s “Talk to the Nation” of President Rodrigo Duterte, Health secretary Francisco Duque III also classified Bacolod City as a “high-risk” area for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the national government might have to prioritize the vaccination of Bacolodnons.
Bacolod City’s Mayor Evelio Leonardia also requested Galvez to send more COVID-19 vaccines as they have only received 19,160 vaccine doses from the national government to date.
“We are being hit hard by this new wave of COVID-19 infections,” Leonardia said in a letter to Galvez. “Ramping up our vaccination program will be critical to saving lives and restoring economic activity in our city.”
He added: “We have been doing our very best to be ahead in terms of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. We are also on pace to have more new cases as we continue to intensify contact tracing and expand targeted testing.”
“As we are experiencing a sharp increase in new cases and the threat of even faster spread, we need to accelerate the pace of vaccinations to move through the priority groups more quickly,” the mayor said in his letter.
As of May 9, Bacolod City had 8,019 total coronavirus cases – 935 active, 6,863 recovered and 221 dead./PN
