BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
COVID-19 is real and should not be taken lightly, Dr. Hector Gayares, medical deputy of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said even as he assured the public that 90 percent of those who were infected in Bacolod City have recovered.
In a virtual press conference yesterday, Gayares presented the data of the COVID-19 situation in Bacolod which show that from 40 cases in August, the number of COVID patients rose to 64 in September or two deaths per day compared to the period March to July when the number of deaths was in single digits.
Gayares said there are some COVID-19 survivors who have take the necessary precaution but still get infected. “So we should not let our guard down,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical, said that out of the 61 baranagys in Bacolod City about 16 numbered barangays have no COVID-19 transmission in the past 14 days.
These are Barangays 35, 26,13, 34, 38, 18, 32, 36, 9, 4, 12, 11, 15, 21, 22 and 24, he said.
Sorongon said they acknowledge the important role of the barangay captains being frontliners the battlefield in the fight against COVID-19.
On the other hand, Gayares advised those who manifest flu-like symptoms not to hesitate to seek consultation at the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient Center at the Bacolod Arts and Youth Sports Center where consultation and swab testing are provided for free.
Patients can recover from COVID-19 with early intervention, he said.
He also pointed out that with the establishment of the EOC, the COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City for the past two weeks have gone down.*
