DOH now lists Bacolod as high risk for COVID-19

BACOLOD CITY—The Department of Health (DOH) has raised the COVID-19 risk classification of Bacolod City from low to high on Monday, Aug. 30.

It also raised Negros Occidental’s risk classification from low to moderate.

Dr. Bea Camille Fillario Natalaray, DOH-Western Visayas medical officer III, said the COVID-19 alert levels of Bacolod and Negros Occidental were also raised to three, which means case counts are high or increasing.

Areas under Alert Level 3 must ramp up active case finding, find clusters and super spreader events to explain the increase in cases, and conduct active community testing, Natalaray said.

The Philippine Genome Center reported over the weekend additional persons infected with the Delta, Alpha, Beta, and P.3 variants in Bacolod and Negros Occidental, she said. The variants are associated with increased cases.

Natalaray said Bacolod and Negros Occidental had four new Delta variant cases each.

The COVID-19 positivity rate or the share of tests that come back positive in Bacolod City in the last two weeks increased to 7.82 percent from 6.15 percent. In Negros Occidental, it went up to 1.9 percent from 1.62 percent.

Natalaray reminded the public to limit unnecessary travel and avoid non-essential gatherings.

“Practicing minimum health standards is our best defense against any variant, and do active self-monitoring and immediate isolation upon experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, ” she said.

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