BACOLOD CITY — The building of the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol here was placed on lockdown for five days starting Monday, Jan. 24 until Jan. 28.
This after Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and 21 employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz II, said Lacson was advised to isolate after suffering from a sore throat which started to manifest on Jan. 20.
Prior to that, Lacson had been attending official functions such as the distribution of aid for the typhoon victims in the southern part of the province.
But, Diaz noted that the governor was not infectious at that time, as he initially tested non-reactive in the rapid antigen test after he returned here.
Following this, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer has assumed as acting governor in the absence of Lacson.
Meanwhile, the temporary shutdown of the Capitol building was recommended by the Provincial Incident Management Team after observing the increase in COVID-19 cases in the past week among the employees at the Capitol offices.
The departments with the high number of COVID-19 infected employees are the Provincial Planning and Development Office and the Provincial Legal Office with four cases each.
This measure is made to prevent the transmission of the virus in other offices, according to Diaz.