Bacolod Government Center, Negros Occ. capitol reopen

By Dolly Yasa

 

Bacolod City – The Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) and the provincial capitol reopened Monday after both were placed under lockdown last week due to the upsurge in the number of government employees infected by the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

But two offices at the BCGC, the Public Affairs and Assistance Division (PAAD) and Room 1 of the City Health Office (CHO), will be temporarily closed starting Monday until Aug 23, while the Human Resource Management Services Office will be temporarily closed until Aug 24.

In a message posted in the Provincial Government’s Facebook page, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that it is now safe for capitol employees to return to work.

Lacson said that “during our lockdown, we accomplished identifying 7 more of our co-workers who are Covid-19 positive and arrested the spread of the virus in our workplace.”

“This makes a total of 22 confirmed cases among Provincial Govt Employees. We also succeeded in isolating them and giving them the proper care and treatment in our health facilities.”

He also said that 8 of the 22 confirmed cases have fully recovered and returned home after complying with the 14-day quarantine and testing negative on their second swab.

The initial close contacts of about 142 employees have tested negative for the virus and are also feeling well, added.

He also said that offices that were compromised by visits of confirmed cases have been decontaminated while the employees stayed at home and monitored their own and their co-employees’ health conditions.

The BCCG, on the other hand, was placed under lockdown on orders of Mayor Evelio Leonardia Monday last week after a second government employee at the Land Tax Division succumbed to COVID-19.

Six employees in the said department tested positive of the virus, two died while four are asymptomatic.