Two ‘ultra-risk areas’ in Bacolod cleared

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Two areas here visited by a COVID-19 patient from La Castellana, Negros Occidental are no longer tagged as “ultra-high risk areas.”

Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairperson of the city’s Inter-Agency Task Force against the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) said Tuesday that the two areas were “cleared” after relatives of the 43-year-old patient who came in close contact with him tested negative for the disease.

Familiaran earlier confirmed that Negros Occidental Patient No. 2 passed by Purok Bulak, Mandalagan and East Homes 3 in Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod City, upon arrival from Iloilo on March 15. He went home to La Castellana the next day.

He was fetched from the Banago port by his brother who resides in Purok Bulak before going to their parents’ house at Barangay Estefania.

He slept at his parent’s house and left for La Castellana on March 16.

Familiaran said the patient’s brother and his wife are from Purok Bulak, Mandalagan, their parents and seven other members of their family all tested negative for COVID-19.

The vice mayor also said that Purok Sabes in Villamonte and Bayanihan in Banago, where COVID patients No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, live, are still tagged as “ultra-risk” area.

The status of the two communities will be reviewed depending on the outcome of the swab tests on the close contacts of both patients.