NegOcc guv, 33 others negative for COVID-19

By Dolly Yasa and Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday that Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson tested negative of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Apart from Lacson, 33 other employees at the Governor’s Office also tested negative.

But four workers were positive while nine are up for retesting.

Last Friday, Lacson together with his staff and employees went on isolation after a utility worker tested positive for COVID-19.

They underwent swab extraction Saturday. The governor’s office was also closed for disinfection.

Diaz said the governor and his staff reported for work on Monday.

Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Publio Ploteña, Bacolod City fire marshal along with 32 members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Bacolod and locally employed personnel tested negative for COVID-19.

Ploteña said they were under quarantine since August 27 while waiting for the results of their mandatory Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests.

He said that even though they were physically fit, they must ensure the safety of their colleagues and those around them.

Ploteña said he divided the BFP personnel into various substations that week because they also observed skeletal work force due to the threat of the virus.

He said he made sure that an adequate number of personnel remained on the ground in order to respond to fire calls while they were in isolation.

Their negative swab test results were released on Sept 3 and was announced via their official Facebook page yesterday.

After the results came out, some of the personnel who came from quarantine relieved their colleagues who rendered duty for nine days.