Capitol under 5-day lockdown after 11 employees infected with COVID

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – Provincial Administrator Ryfrando Diaz said Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has approved the recommendation of Provincial Health Office head Dr. Ernell Tumimbang to place under lockdown the provincial capitol for five days from Aug.12 to Aug.15,2020.

Tumimbang recommended the lockdown due to the surge in the number of COVID cases in several offices at the provincial capitol.

“By locking down the capitol for 5 days we might be able to stop the transmission within the capitol.”

Data from Chacha Magallanes-Tan of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) indicated that 11 employees of the provincial government have been infected.

The offices with COVID-19 cases are Provincial Health Office (1), Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (1), Public Information Office (1), Sangguniang Panlalawigan-(1), Provincial Veterinarian Office (1), a watchman assigned to the SP lobby, Bids and Award Committee (1), and Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital – 1 administrative staff and 3 doctors.

In recommending the 5-day lockdown, Tumimbang said that “the current surge of Covid 19 infections in the provincial capitol and likewise in our hospitals, especially in TLJPH where our molecular lab is situated, has compelled us to recommend a lockdown of the provincial capitol for 5 days starting August 12 to 16, 2020.”

He noted that many offices in the capitol were compromised by the virus.

“Our frontliners, the PHO, the PDRRMT, and the command center will still be functional to monitor our provincial Covid concern. Our hospitals are still going to function at the utmost that we can manage,” Tumimbang said.

During the lockdown, Tumimbang said strict home quarantine for all provincial government employees is a must.