By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is encouraging residents to wear face masks in public places as the province surpassed the COVID-19 positivity rate threshold.
The province logged a moderate positivity rate of 7.5 percent, higher than the five percent infection rate threshold set by the World Health Organization.
“Although it’s optional, we still encourage wearing face masks, especially if you are in a crowded area,” Lacson told reporters yesterday.
“There is a need to be vigilant,” he added.
His reaction came after Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, Jr. reimposed the mandatory wearing of face masks inside the city hall after two employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Escalante also noticed clients inside city hall were no longer following simple health protocols.
The mayor added that the use of face masks is now mandatory in all government offices in Cadiz.
He also reminded residents to remain cautious and to keep themselves healthy as COVID-19 remains prevalent.
“I am in favor of that. As you can see, your governor never stopped wearing face mask,” Lacson said.
Lacson has been seen on numerous occasions wearing face mask, even when he is in open spaces.
The governor hopes that Covid-19 cases will not increase again and this would make him consider implementing the mask mandate inside provincial capitol offices.
Meanwhile, elective surgery resumed at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City yesterday, after a thorough disinfection of the hospital’s operating room complex.
“The spread of the infection is under control. All operating personnel were swabbed and all high-risk personnel were already quarantined,” the hospital management said.
Earlier, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire was not considering the reimplementation of the face mask mandate despite the recorded increase in Covid-19 cases in the country.
However, Vergeire is encouraging everybody even before, knowing when to wear face masks.
The DOH advised the elderly, people with comorbidities, and individuals in crowded areas and places with poor ventilation to wear a face mask for protection against COVID-19./ With a report from PNA / DGB, WDJ