Mayor Evelio Leonardia is making this clear: There is no lockdown in Bacolod City.

Talks were rife yesterday that the city will be on a lockdown beginning Monday due to a recent spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. But Leonardia and a ranking official of the city’s Emergency Operations Center-Task Force were quick to dismiss the issue saying these are mere rumors.

The city mayor immediately issued a public advisory yesterday to address the baseless story circulating on social media.

“This is to inform the public that there is no truth to the rumors in social media that Bacolod City will be placed under a lockdown status starting January 10, 2022 in anticipation of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases post-holiday season,” Leonardia said.

He said Bacolod remains under Alert Level 2.

“As such, no directive for a lockdown in this city has been issued by the National Inter-Agency Task Force. Please be guided accordingly,” the city mayor added.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, January 8, Department of Health Region 6’s data showed that Bacolod City has recorded 37 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total active cases in the city to 261. (Darlene Delgado)/WDJ