BACOLOD CITY - Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), said he was confident that the number of infections in in Bacolod City will decrease in no time.
Galvez stressed the importance of harmonizing the city’s efforts against COVID-19, with that of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
Galvez cited the importance of Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Retired Major General Melquiades Feliciano, chief implementer of Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF)-Visayas, having been commissioned to help the city.
The team of Cimatu and Feliciano successfully curbed the local spread of COVID-19 in Cebu City after been deployed there earlier this year. Cebu City was once dubbed as the COVID-19 epicenter in the country.
“It’s not magic. It just happened that there is unification (in Cebu City),” Galvez said.
Galvez and his team met with Mayor Evelio Leonardia, other city officials, and members of the Emergency Operations Center Task Force at the Bacolod City Government Center this week to discuss “coordinated operations to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
During the meeting, city officials presented the COVID-19 Bacolod situationer and intervention strategy.
As of September 11, the city had 2,356 COVID cases, including 35 deaths, 865 recoveries, and 1,456 active cases.
According to Galvez, logistical efforts will primarily cover “where the center of gravity is.”
“Considering that most hospitals are in Bacolod, the people from the province will also be accommodated. It is also expected that Bacolod will get overwhelmed because it is the hub,” he said.
In addressing the demand for more quarantine centers, Galvez told Councilor Novero, who heads the Quarantine Centers Action Team, to give him the list of all the public schools that the city would want to utilize.
“Fifty percent of them can be used as quarantine facilities. Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones promised me that as long as there is a recommendation from me and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año, then it’s fine with her,” Galvez said.
Meanwhile, the city will receive additional supply of protective gears, testing kits, and other essentials in containing the spread of the COVID-19.
Aside from the 5,000 PPE sets, the NTF will also send 5,000 test kits, 4,000 KN95 masks, 4,000 surgical masks, and one batch of automatic RNA extractor kits to Bacolod, Galvez said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)will also provide 10,000 masks for Bacolod.
Department of Health (DOH) Assistant Secretary Charade Mercado-Grande said one PCR machine will be stationed at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) Molecular Bio-laboratory here.