BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
We don’t intend to close the Negros Occidental.
This was stressed yesterday by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, amid increasing COVID-19 positivity rates in Metro Manila and Iloilo.
“We can’t really go back to the scenario of closing borders or lockdown,” Lacson said, when asked for a comment on the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country.
While the cases are going up right now, it’s clearly seen that it is manageable, he added, stressing also that hospitals in the province not filling up with COVID-19 patients, which indicates that most cases are mild.
Independent pandemic monitor Octa Research reported that positivity rate in Metro Manila hit 9.8 percent and 10.1 percent in Iloilo as of July 6.
Lacson said he noted the rise and fall of COVID-19 cases in the province, going up to 33 and down again to 29 on Wednesday, because of more recoveries than new cases.
It also proves that vaccination drive also helps, although Negros Occidental remains under Alert Level 2 due to performance on its vaccination, he added.
Records of the Department of Health Western Visayas show that Iloilo has 480 active cases, with 437 more cases reported in Iloilo City, as of July 7.
“We’ll observe what is happening in Iloilo and how severe the cases are,” Lacson said.*
