The president of the Negros Oriental Medical Society says he is supporting calls to lower the alert level for CoViD-19 in Negros Oriental.
NOMS President Dr. Joven Occeña told the MetroPost Thursday that hospital admissions are now quite low, even with the number of cases.
“This means that the symptoms that are being felt now are usually mild,” he said.
Negros Oriental is now classified under Alert Level 2.
However, he cautioned that while he supports the opening up of the economy through lesser restrictions by the lowering of the alert level, the issue now is the sub-variant of the Omicron virus that is wreaking havoc in Hongkong and Singapore.
“The government must address this threat by installing preventive measures,” Occeña said.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer Liland Estacion, for her part, agreed that CoViD-19 infections in Negros Oriental are getting fewer.
“Last Wednesday, there were 180 active cases. On Thursday, there were 164 and hospital bed occupancy in isolation rooms has gone down to 10 percent,” she said during a virtual press conference.
Estacion said the Province will wait for the advice from the national government through the Inter Agency Task Force if the alert level for Negros Oriental will be lowered.
“CoViD cases have really gone down. But it has gone up in other countries. Let’s not be complacent because there may be new variants. These can be controlled by getting vaccinated, abiding with minimum health protocols like the correct wearing of masks, washing of hands, and avoiding of public places.
“Take vitamins, get enough sleep, avoid stress,” Dr. Estacion advised.
Meanwhile, she revealed the government is planning to conduct house-to-house vaccinations in a bid to increase the vaccination rate in the country.
Estacion said the vaccination drive is important because the Department of Education is now planning to resume face-to-face classes soon and vaccination cards would be required for the students who will attend these classes.
No date has yet been set for the resumption of face-to-face classes.
However, to make the vaccination plan work, everyone in the family should be vaccinated, she said.
The provincial government of Negros Oriental has vaccinated more than half of its total target population against coronavirus disease 2019.
Estacion said as of Feb. 24, the Province has a total of 526,554 fully-vaccinated individuals, including those who received the one-shot Janssen vaccine.
This represents 53.1 percent of 990,637 individuals targeted for vaccination in the province.
She also revealed that vaccinations have also gone down all over the country. “Most of the people in the coastlines have been vaccinated, but the problem is with the people living in the uplands,” Estacion said.
She said she hopes all the negative stories about the vaccinations will stop because we have already seen the importance of the vaccine in preventing a surge of COVID cases in Negros Oriental.
“People who have been vaccinated are the living proof of the benefits of vaccination,” Estacion said.
Getting a vaccine has now become easier. Aside from the shorter waiting time to get vaccinated, one now has many choices of vaccines, unlike early last year when there were hardly any choices.
Estacion revealed that the Department of Health sent a team to inspect the Province’s compliance with the vaccination protocols and congratulated Negros Oriental for its management of its vaccination drive.
“The Province bought all the recommended storage facilities for vaccines. We can safely store all kinds of vaccines so there’s no need to immediately dispense the vaccines after they arrive here.The vaccines that are received from the national government are well preserved and are of the best quality,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Resbakuna Kids rollout in the Province netted 2,212 children aged 5-11 from across Negros Oriental, Estacion said.
So far, no side effects were reported among this age group, she added.
Estacion called on the parents to respect the wishes of their children who want to receive the vaccine against Covid-19.
The vaccination of the pediatrics sector in Negros Oriental started last Feb. 18 in all the local government units and at the provincial mega vaccination center at the Macias Sports Complex here. (With reports from Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
