By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Bacolod City Health Office released their latest report yesterday showing the number of patients under investigation for the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the city has increased to six. CHO Environment and Sanitation Division head, Dr. Grace Tan, who also serves as spokesperson for the Bacolod City Inter-Agency Task Force Against the nCoV, said, based on CHO records, the six are currently quarantined at hospitals across the city.
A 45-year-old female from China and a 29-year-old female who traveled from Macau and Hong Kong both developed “flu-like” symptoms upon arriving in the city. They join the earlier reported cases of a 12-year-old Filipino minor who traveled from Macau and Hong Kong, 58-year-old overseas Filipino worker who recently arrived from Hong Kong, and 67-year-old male foreign national and 40-year-old Filipino male exhibiting “flu-like” symptoms after traveling overseas.
A 58-year-old Canadian who arrived from Taiwan was previously under investigation but eventually discharged after test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine came back negative for nCoV.
The Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council recently passed a resolution requesting a P10 million budget that will be utilized by the task force for the prevention and control of nCoV./DGB, WDJ