BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – With the Department of Health (DOH) confirming the local transmission of the more virulent Delta variant of the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said “human attitude” is the key to combatting the disease.
When asked what new measures the provincial government would take, the governor said they would continue requiring negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results from incoming people.
“Every local government unit in Negros Occidental is also encouraged to enforce granular lockdowns when needed,” said Lacson.
On Aug. 19, the DOH said that based on the phylogenetic analysis conducted by the Philippine Genome Center and investigation by the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau, clusters of Delta variant cases were seen as linked to other local cases.
As of this writing, Negros Occidental remained “Delta-free”.
“From the very beginning, we have asked for the cooperation of every Negrense to comply with the minimum health protocols,” Lacson said.
Pressed if the resources of the provincial government are still enough to keep the pandemic fight going, Lacson said the focus should be on the prevention of the virus transmission so resources will not be diminished.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City has so far recorded four local confirmed cases of the Delta variant. They were already tagged as recovered./PN
