CHERYL G. CRUZ
Two brothers from a family of eight, who tested positive for COVID-19, were among the 57 COVID-related deaths in Bacolod City in the first 16 days of this month, the City Emergency Operations Center said.
The two were both unvaccinated, the EOC said, adding that of the 57 deaths recorded from Sept. 1-16, 51 were not vaccinated, three were partially vaccinated, and three were fully inoculated.
These figures show that vaccinated individuals have a lower chance of having a severe or critical condition upon contracting COVID-19, compared to unvaccinated persons, the EOC said.
It added that as per contact tracing, the first family member who contracted the virus was the 39-year-old son, an event organizer, who died Sept. 1.
He had fever, cough, and colds as early as August 25 and his RT-PCR test result confirmed that he was COVID-19 positive.
His 35-year-old brother died Sept. 11.
Their 68-year-old father, who also tested positive for COVID, experienced mild symptoms. The EOC said he got vaccinated.
The 75-year-old mother, also vaccinated, was the only family member who tested negative for the coronavirus, a press release from the city said.
The capacity utilization rate of seven hospitals in Bacolod City in terms of bed allocation for COVID-19 patient admissions was 89.96 percent, as of Sept. 15.
Bacolod remains under the high risk classification for COVID, with a two-week growth rate of 63 percent, average daily attack rate of 14.58 percent, and positivity rate of 22 percent, as of Sept. 15, the Department of Health Region 6 said.
It added that the highly-urbanized city logged 1,508 active cases as of Wednesday, with 96 new infections, 28 recoveries, and seven new deaths.
Meanwhile, students of local nursing schools, who will soon serve as the city’s healthcare frontliners, will be prioritized in the COVID-19 vaccination program of Bacolod.
Their families and the schools’ faculty members will also be in the priority list. The inoculation rollout will be held Sept. 17 at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central. – CGC
