BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday said that the Department of Health is sending a team to Negros Occidental to help the provincial government deal with the surge of dengue cases.
Negros Occidental has consistently ranked number one among provinces and highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas, having the greatest number of dengue cases.
Dr. Mary Ann Santa Lucia, officer in charge of the DOH 6 Local Health Support Division, met on Thursday with Lacson, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ernell Tumimbang and Dr. Jessica Fama to discuss the dengue concerns
DOH WV records show that Negros Occidental has a total of 1,869 cases from January to July 2 this year, which is an increase of 777 percent compared to only 233 for the same period in 2021.
Lacson said the DOH team will assist the province in controlling the uptick of dengue cases.
He considers the dengue affectation in Negros Occidental “alarming.”
DOH-WV also reported that dengue cases in Bacolod City are up by 159 percent in the past six months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
Bacolod City recorded 269 total dengue cases from January to July 2.
COVID APPROACHING 100
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 active cases will be hitting 100 next week, Gov. Lacson also disclosed yesterday.
The Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) logged 12 new cases on July 14, bringing to 41 the total active cases in Negros Occidental, excluding the highly urbanized city of Bacolod.
On July 15, PIMT logged six new cases with six recoveries, keeping the total cases at 41 in Negros Occidental.
“Cases have been rising steadily in the past two days. There were nine cases on Wednesday, then 12 cases on Thursday. I’ve also been hearing that there are people we know are getting hit with COVID-19,” Lacson said.
“Let’s continue to protect ourselves, because there are now talks of using face masks as optional,” he pointed out.
He appealed to Negrenses to be “vigilant as there is an uptick of cases even in Negros Occidental.”
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is also closely monitoring the surging of COVID-19 cases in neighboring Iloilo City and Iloilo province.
Iloilo City logged 75 new cases, bringing to 711 its total cases as of July 15, while Iloilo province has 687 cases, DOH-WV records showed.*
