BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said yesterday that he is keen on implementing a moratorium on receiving locally stranded individuals and other travelers to the city.
Leonardia said this is to protect Bacolod from a possible surge of COVID-19 cases after the number of infections increased in the National Capital Region where the bulk of the LSIs come from.
He said that if the moratorium is implemented, he plans to allow the entry of LSIs only on meritorious cases.
For now, the city government will wait for the guidelines from the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force, the mayor said.
Emergency Operations Center Executive Director Em Ang represented Leonardia in a virtual meeting with the RIATF yesterday to thresh out issues on receiving travelers.
Leonardia reiterated yesterday that people should not be complacent and admitted that he was alarmed that there were 25 new Covid cases two days ago.
He said those were the highest recorded daily cases since November 21 last year.
But Leonardia emphasized that the city’s situation is far better than the others, as Covid cases here are stable, despite the noted increase of cases lately.
The Department of Health in Region 6 reported five new local cases in Bacolod as of yesterday.
This brings the total number of Covid cases in the city to 5,898 with 5,620 recoveries and 189 deaths, the DOH reported.*