Mayor Evelio Leonardia lauded the various sectors here for their cooperation in the city government’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis after the status of Bacolod was further downgraded to Alert Level 1.
In a statement on Wednesday, Leonardia said the recent development is a testimony to the city’s effective management of the pandemic.
“To put things in proper perspective, the Department of Health (DOH) placed Bacolod under Alert Level 1 because the city is now classified as a ‘minimal risk’ area,” he added.
In a media briefing, the new alert status of Bacolod was discussed by Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray of the DOH 6 (Western Visayas), where she explained that this was due to the declining attack rate in the city from 2.59 percent to 0.59 percent per 100,000 population.
The health care system utilization of Bacolod has also decreased to only 12.46 percent, she added.
“It is a recognition of the timely and innovative interventions of the Emergency Operations Center – Task Force (EOC-TF) that resulted in the containment of infections and continued decline of attack rate (in) the past weeks,” Leonardia said.
He acknowledged the efforts of individuals from various sectors, including Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chair of the city Inter-Agency Task Force, along with the personnel of the EOC-TF, City Health Office, and City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
These include the health front-liners and volunteers, as well as those in the barangays led by the village officials, barangay health workers, and nutrition scholars, and even the barangay tanod.
Leonardia also cited the contribution of the business community, the public and private schools, and the management of various shopping malls and food chains that opened their facilities to serve as vaccination centers.
“Let me also thank the Bacolodnons for their full cooperation to the city government’s call to get vaccinated. Our sincere appreciation, too, to the members of the media, who had been helping us in our information and education campaigns these past months,” he added.
Still, Leonardia said the “very positive news for our city” should not be a reason for the people to be complacent.
“Let us continue to follow minimum health protocols, observe physical distancing, regularly disinfect, practice proper hygiene and avoid high-risk places,” he added.
As of Wednesday, Bacolod has only five new Covid-19 cases and 233 remaining active cases, data from the DOH-6 showed.
Source: Philippines New Agency
