By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson revealed that he has been alerted by the Department of Health (DOH) to prepare for the possible entry of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.

“The DOH has told us that the Delta variant will enter the country and that we will have to prepare for that as far as our hospital services are concerned. It is quite alarming but we have just to be prepared for that situation,” Lacson said.

DOH-6 Regional Director Adriano Suba-an held a virtual meeting with the governors in Western Visayas on Wednesday, July 14.

Lacson also said the DOH regional office is happy over the province’s “One Hospital” system, although they were advised to further strengthen their coordination with DOH.

As of yesterday, the country has recorded 16 new cases of the Delta variant, of which five were from returning overseas Filipinos, while 11 are tagged as local cases, two of which are recorded from Western Visayas, particularly in Antique province.

The Delta COVID-19 variant was first detected in India in February./DGB, WDJ