MANILA, Philippines — The rise in the number of coronavirus cases in Negro Occidental can be attributed to the return of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) there, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.
“During these past weeks, nag-increase ang number of cases sa Negros Occidental and they were attributing this to locally stranded individuals,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters in an online interview.
“When we checked the data, actually we verify ‘no na yung mga talagang umuwi papunta dun sa kanilang areas yun talaga yung nakapagpa-increase ng numbero ng kaso nila,” she added.
(When we checked the data, we were able to verify that the residents returning to their areas really caused the spike in the number of cases there.)
Negros Occidental and Bacolod will implement a lockdown during the proposed “timeout weekend” from August 28 to 31 to make was for the PCR testing of 10,000 people.
On August 27, the DOH recorded 140 additional cases in Negros Occidental.
According to Vergeire, top government officials have already visited Negros Occidental to check on the situation and the state of its facilities.
“Tayo ay pinagaaralan pa rin natin continuously itong nangyayari sa Negros Occidental,” she added.
(We will continue to study the developments that is happening in Negros Occidental.)