While the number of coronavirus patients is increasing in Metro Manila hospitals reportedly due to the Omicron variant, only one patient is still being treated at a designated COVID hospital in Negros Occidental, Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force action officer Rayfrando Diaz said today, Jan. 4.
Diaz said the patient is admitted at the Cadiz District Hospital, adding that the quarantine facilities in the cities of Silay and Cadiz, and in EB Magalona, are still empty of occupants.
Despite this positive development, quarantine facilities staff have been ordered to stay put for a while, Diaz said. He said authorities will observe the trend in the next two weeks if there will be an increase of cases due to the holidays, when people lowered their guard and did not strictly complied with minimum health protocols against the coronavirus.
COVID active cases in Negros Occidental decreased to 177, as of Jan. 3, from a peak of more than 4,400 in October last year, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.
Diaz also said the 93-bed main building of the Cadiz District Hospital will now be solely for COVID patients, and the newly-finished annex building, with 100 beds, will be for other patients.
The two other COVID designated hospitals, the Valladolid District Hospital and the Valeriano Gatuslao Memorial Hospital in Himamaylan City, already reverted to their normal operations as regular hospitals.
Diaz said that because of the Omicron variant, there is still a need to heighten the campaign against COVID-19.
As people come in from abroad, the strict screening should at the Philippines’ point of entry, he stressed.
A 38-year-old seaman from Pampanga is now being isolated at a quarantine facility in Bacolod City, after he tested positive for the COVID-19 Omicron variant. He arrived in Bacolod Dec. 31.
Diaz said he is hopeful that there will not be another surge of COVID cases in Negros Occidental. | GB
