NTF to visit Bacolod amid reported spike in COVID-19 cases

The National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 will visit Bacolod City this week due to reports of increasing COVID-19 cases there, NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said Monday.

“Hindi tayo puwede maging complacent, kailangan paigtingin ang intervention. Di tayo puwede magpabaya para maiwasan ang pag-spike ng kaso, kaya sa Thursday, pupunta ang Task Force sa Bacolod City dahil may pagtaas ng kaso roon,” Dizon said in an online briefing.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Ranjit Rye of UP OCTA research team said that the daily number of recorded COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City has been breaching over 100 and as such, the city should be placed under strict modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), which bans public mass transport.

The research team has also reported the flattening of the curve in recorded COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region and nearby Calabarzon, with reproduction rate — or the number of people that a COVID-19 patient can infect — already less than one.

Dizon said that the NTF will also visit General Santos on Friday, and even Central Luzon after that to ensure efficient implementation of government responses.

“Kailangan dahan-dahan tayo sa pagdi-declare ng victory. Nasa kalagitnaan pa lang tayo. Malaking bagay na ang ating intervention helped in controlling transmission, pero nasa kalagitnaan pa lang tayo,” he said.

Based on government records, at least 2.7 million Filipinos have been tested for COVID-19 so far.

The occupancy of mega quarantine facilities and isolation hotels, on the other hand, are at 58% and 59%, respectively.

The country’s COVID-19 positivity rate, however, is at 10.6%.

The Philippines has recorded 237,365 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday, September 6. Of this number, 184,687 had recovered while 3,875 had died. The number of active cases is at 48,803. —KBK, GMA News