By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government plans to purchase 100 infrared thermometer scanners, which will be used by government hospitals and transport terminals in the province.
In an interview with Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod, Lacson said the equipment will especially be used at Bacolod-Silay Airport to take the temperature of arriving passengers as part of the ongoing monitoring for the coronavirus disease, or Covid-19.
The governor also said he left the decision to the province’s task force against Covid-19 to determine how they would distribute the equipment among the remaining hospitals and terminals.
The provincial government earlier allocated P33.5 million towards the prevention and control of Covid-19, wherein the funding was sourced from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council budget.
Lacson noted, Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office head, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, requested a P3.5 million budget for protective medical equipment, along with P30 million for the construction of isolation rooms at district hospitals.
In addition, Tumimbang explained, the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Regional Hospital would be congested if Covid-19 cases increase and, by establishing additional isolation rooms, it will allow other hospitals to accommodate patients under investigation for the virus./DGB, WDJ