Medical doctors in Negros Oriental have warned the public against dropping their guard against COVID-19 with the lowering of the Province’s alert level status by the National Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases from Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 2.
Malacañan announced the lowering of the alert level, which allows for looser controls, and greater freedom for the public, even as the number of COVID-19 active positive cases still remained at 2,388 as of last Thursday, according to data from the Department of Health Region 7.
The alert level was lowered even while Negros Oriental continued to lead the other provinces in Central Visayas in having the most number of active positive COVID cases — which was seven times more than the cases in Cebu, 14 times more than the cases in Bohol, and over five times more than the cases in Siquijor.
Dr. Joven Occeña, president of the Negros Oriental Medical Society, told the MetroPost that the number of COVID cases registered in hospitals has decreased.
On Friday, Dr. Occeña posted on social media that the Negros Polymedic Hospital in Sibulan had three vacant COVID rooms at one time — the first time it happened in months.
However, Dr. Occeña lamented that since the alert level was lowered, we can see many children roaming around in malls. He said it is worrisome that the children may be the next COVID victims in as early as two weeks. “This is not the time to be complacent,” he warned.
Occeña noted that it seems like everybody is just happy about the lowering of the alert level–the malls are filled with people, kids are going around the malls. It’s business as usual.
Several parents and guardians have also been observed to be taking their children for a stroll at the boulevard in the late afternoons. Seats under the wide umbrellas at the southern end of the boulevard where ambulant vendors sell street food and balot are all taken.
“I really hate the lowering of our alert level too soon! And we have [even] been labelled as mabagal (slow) in our vaccination efforts,” he said.
The government has just started vaccinating children aged 12 to 17 years old, “but we are letting them go free [outside of their homes] already,” Occeña said of the confusing signals it sends.
Gov. Roel Degamo on Tuesday signed Executive Order No. 44 adopting the guidelines of the National IATF for areas in the country now placed under Alert Level 2.
Negros Oriental shifted from Alert Level 4 from Nov. 1-14 to Alert Level 2 until Nov. 30, as approved by the IATF-EID, based on the decline in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 cases.
Capitol spokesperson Bimbo Miraflor told the MetroPost that Ceres bus trips of the Vallacar Transit Inc. may now ply the Dumaguete-Bacolod City route, provided that travelers comply with the requirements of both Negros provinces.
The Ceres bus trips to the other side of the island will be allowed exit and entry only via Mabinay in Negros Oriental, and in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, he said.
The cross-border trips on Negros Island were temporarily suspended as both Provinces had high cases of CoViD-19 in the past weeks; a drop in infections is now being reported, he added.
Meanwhile, weekend commercial flights at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport may resume soon after a long hiatus of limited daily schedules in the past year and a half due to the pandemic.
Miraflor said the Provincial IATF headed by the Governor, in a meeting on Monday, allowed weekend air travels to and from Negros Oriental, following the downgrading of the alert level status and the easing of border control and travel requirements.
Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, the two major airlines plying the Dumaguete route, have long been requesting the Governor to allow weekend flights to Negros Oriental, he said.
Another salient point in the new guidelines is the increased seating capacity at food establishments of 50 percent for dine-in, and 70 percent for al fresco.
The wearing of face shields will be discretionary on the part of the establishment, even as the national government has announced scrapping it for areas under Alert Levels 1, 2, and 3, Miraflor said.
The Provincial IATF will meet soon to finalize other arrangements for border control and security, following the downgrading of the alert level status in Negros Oriental. (With a report from Judy F. Partlow/ PNA)
