By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, Jr. over the weekend denied reports released by the Provincial Health Office (PHO) that the city has the highest number of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, cases in Negros Occidental.

“It is not correct. All results of the November 3 swabbing are all in. As per information from the city IATF (inter-agency task force), our LGU only has 99 active cases,” Escalante said, correcting the PHO report released to the media last week.

PHO reported that Cadiz City, with 150 COVID-19 cases, has the most number of active cases among the province’s 12 component cities.

Escalante stressed that 5,667 have already been cleared from the disease in Cadiz.

As of November 3, Cadiz City’s IATF reported that there are only 498 persons under monitoring, of which 78 are currently at the St. Andrew’s Park Place, the city’s isolation facility.

About 420 others are strictly under home quarantine.

Cadiz City, meanwhile, posted 15 new cases while 18 have fully recovered.

“Again, we only have 99 active cases and not 150 as earlier claimed by the PHO in its report. I hope this sets the record straight,” Escalante added./DGB, WDJ