BACOLOD CITY –– Cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in this city have gone down barely two months after national officials intervened to address the spike in the number of infections.
The Department of Health (DOH) said the new cases in the provincial capital of Negros Occidental decreased from the three-digit level in August to single digits in the past weeks.
On Tuesday, this city had only four new COVID-19 cases.
Retired Major Gen. Melquiades Feliciano, the chief implementer of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF)-Visayas, said the development could be attributed to the effective interventions and systems implemented to curb local transmission.
Since the start of the pandemic, Bacolod had 4,633 COVID-19 cases, of which 539 remained active, with 3,976 recoveries, and 118 deaths.
From modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) two months ago, Bacolod’s status was eased to general community quarantine (GCQ) until Oct. 31.
Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leoardia has requested the National Inter-Agency Task Force (ATF) to further downgrade the community quarantine status of the city from GCQ to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
In his letter dated Oct. 15, Leonardia said the COVID-19 interventions that they have undertaken under a centralized system at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) resulted in the continuous decline of cases in Bacolod during the last two weeks.
He said they have started implementing the Bacolod City Contact Tracing System (BacTrac), a localized web and mobile application for the efficient and expeditious tracing of contacts of COVID-19-positive patients.
Once registered in the system, an individual will be issued a BaCTrac card which has the holder’s name, address, identification number, and a uniquely-assigned quick response (QR) code.
Through the online contact tracing system, the city government can record the movement of residents in the city and elsewhere in the province and easily locate people suspected of interacting with COVID-19 patients.
When a person enters a government building or shopping mall, the QR code from his or her card will be scanned. The cards will serve as a digital logbook to record the date and time of the visit.
“We are also continuously working to expand our healthcare capacities, including providing additional beds and hiring health workers. With these measures in place, we are confident that the City of Bacolod is ready to transition into MGCQ,” Leonardia said.
Meanwhile, starting Oct. 26, the Bacolod City Health Office would no longer accommodate patients with COVID-19 symptoms, said City Administrator Em Ang, executive director, and deputy for administration and operations of the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center – Task Force.
“This is to protect other patients – especially pregnant women – from contracting the viral disease. In our daily reports, there are always pregnant women who are tested positive. We are making a study on that right now. In fact, we are planning to meet with the Philippine Obstetrics and Gynecologist Society in the next few days. We’d like to find out what is causing that,” Ang said.
The patients with COVID-19 symptoms will be temporarily accommodated at the Bacolod RWeOut-Patient Center.