By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Negros Occidental provincial government yesterday said travel restrictions will likely return if COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila continue to go up.
The surge in cases is currently blamed on lax observance of minimum health protocols and the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said they will continue strictly adhering to the S-PaSS system.
“We are all [nationwide] under Alert Level 2, only Metro Manila was placed under Alert Level 3,” Lacson said.
Despite doubts that the province will be able to achieve herd immunity by February, Lacson said the vaccination campaign in the province should be further ramped up.
Overall, the COVID-19 situation in the province is currently good with cases still going down but the governor said they are now monitoring the situation as he stated that whenever COVID-19 cases go up in Metro Manila, other provinces also experience the same issue.
In a statement released on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) warned that there is a high probability of exponential growth with continued decreased adherence to minimum public health standards and the detection of local cases with Omicron variant.
The DOH has so far detected at least 14 confirmed Omicron cases.
Malacañang has already placed the entire National Capital Region under Alert Level 3 from January 3 to January 15, 2022./DGB, WDJ