By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Negros Occidental Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) has logged its highest record COVID-related fatalities in just one day.
PIMT head Dr. Zeaphard Caelian said that on Wednesday, Negros Occidental logged 26 COVID-19 fatalities, the highest on record.
From September 1 to 15, the province recorded a total of 104 deaths based on the PIMT’s data.
In response to Caelian’s report, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the Negrenses should stop treating COVID-19 as a joke and should implement measures to protect themselves.
As of Wednesday, active COVID-19 cases in the province have already reached 2,201.
With the new cases back to triple digits in a day, Lacson believes that the numbers will go even higher in the coming days and is now blaming the surge on the more transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19.
To meet the rising number of cases, the provincial government has designated the Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial District Hospital in Himamaylan City into a COVID-19 treatment center and the Cadiz District Hospital.
“What is happening in Metro Manila is also happening here where even private hospitals are already at full capacity,” Lacson pointed out.
“Let us get vaccinated against COVID-19 to ensure Negrenses that they are protected,” he added./DGB, WDJ
