BACOLOD CITY–Government offices of Silay City in Negros Occidental were placed on lockdown for five days starting Wednesday, Jan. 19, for decontamination and to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Mayor Mark Golez said a councilor and four city government employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
So far, 34 close contacts of the four have been traced.
Silay City had 81 COVID-19 cases as of Monday, 25 of them without symptoms.
Golez said 66 were fully vaccinated, three partial, and 12 unvaccinated.
Seven were in hospitals, 22 in quarantine facilities, and 52 under home quarantine.
“The cases are spreading fast, and it looks like it is already the Omicron variant that is causing it,” Golez said.
Golez, in Special Executive Order 2022-01-01, Series of 2022 issued Tuesday, said the temporary lockdown would apply to all departments, divisions, offices, and units of the Silay City government.
Only city government employees, including job order personnel who will form part of the skeletal workforce, will be allowed in the government offices.
During the five days, the City Health Office, Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, and the Silay City COVID-19 Task Force will conduct extensive contact tracing of all affected persons, as well as disinfecting measures.
There would be a work-from-home or on-call skeletal workforce to facilitate urgent and critical transactions and ensure unhampered delivery of public services, Golez said.
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