Negros Oriental asks IATF to reconsider placing province under alert level 4

DUMAGUETE CITY – The Negros Oriental provincial government has appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF) to reconsider its decision of placing the province under alert level 4.

Gov. Roel Degamo claimed that one of the reasons why the hospitals in the province are overwhelmed is because other COVID-19 patients from Siquijor and southern Cebu are admitted to the province’s COVID-19 hospitals.

Degamo said other private hospitals’ shortage of healthcare workers also contributed to the critical occupancy status.

The governor said he requested the Department of Health for additional nurses and doctors so that the province can maximize the use of COVID-19 beds.

Degamo said the COVID-19 cases in the province have been declining, making the province’s alert level 4 status “inappropriate.”

On October 20, 2021 the National IATF has placed Negros Oriental under alert level 4, the second-highest alert level in the new quarantine system due to its spike in COVID-19 cases.

As of October 25, the province has the highest number of active cases in Central Visayas at 3,082.