Mayor Evelio Leonardia cited yesterday the steady decline in Covid-19 infections in Bacolod City in the last two weeks, but appealed to the public not to let their guard down because the spread of the virus is difficult to predict.
“While we welcome the decline at a time when cases are surging in other areas, we should not let our guard down because the pattern of Covid infections is unpredictable. It’s been a rollercoaster ride with Covid since early last year,” Leonardia, who had been hands-on in the anti-Covid drive in the last 20 months, said.
Real-time data provided by City Administrator Em Ang, executive director of the Emergency Operations Center, showed only two-digit new cases in the last 14 days, averaging 36 cases per day.
In June this year, however, the city was registering three-digit new cases daily, averaging 119 per day. New cases slipped to only 73 daily in July, Ang said.
This development came as the vaccination campaign of Bacolod received an added shot in the arm from the National Inter-Agency Task Force that allocated 15,000 doses of the US-made Moderna vaccines through Secretary Carlito Galvez, a press release from the city said.
GALVEZ THANKED
“Let us thank Secretary Galvez for fulfilling his promise to me that the NIATF will give us the Moderna vaccines,” Leonardia said.
The city government, through Leonardia’s office, had been relentless in its efforts to generate all the support it can get from the national government, Ang said, adding that the mayor constantly communicates, not only with the NIATF but also with the Office of the President, among others, to make sure that the needs of Bacolod are being catered to.
BACOLOD PRIVILEGED
Bacolod is one of the very few cities in the country that was given a second tranche of the Social Amelioration Fund by the national government last year for Covid-affected residents, Leonardia said, adding that more than 112,000 household-recipients in Bacolod availed of the P1.4 billion SAP funds from the national government.
Since the declaration of the pandemic, Ang recalled that Covid cases peaked at 15,978 with recoveries at 15,124, or a recovery rate of 94.66 percent.
As of Wednesday, Bacolod had only 467 active cases, she said.
The city had 1,934 active cases in June and 913 in July, Ang, who is also the Covid Vaccination Council coordinator, said.
MAYOR APPEALS
“We are, therefore, appealing for everyone’s continued understanding and full cooperation if we want to keep the rate of infections down by following minimum health protocols, such as wearing of face masks and face shields when necessary, social distancing, observance of proper sanitation and regular disinfection, and following stipulations of our executive order under the current General Community Quarantine with Heightened Restrictions,” Leonardia said.
Ang reiterated that under the GCQ-HR status, people are being discouraged to attend mass gatherings that could be super spreaders.
“Our compliance means that we are not only protecting ourselves, but also our families and the community as well,” she added.*
