7 Negros LGUs post no COVID-19 cases

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The number of towns and cities in Negros Occidental with no reported COVID-19 cases reached seven as of Sunday.

The municipality of EB Magalona as well as the cities of Sipalay and La Carlota joined the towns of Candoni, Don Salvador Benedicto, Ilog and Pulupandan on the list of areas with no active COVID infections, according to the provincial incident management team.

But cases in San Carlos City rose from 18 on Dec. 28 to 27 on Jan. 3, registering the highest number of infections among the province’s 31 local government units (LGUs), excluding Bacolod City, which recorded 76 cases during the same period.

Meanwhile, 106 locally stranded individuals arrived in the province on Jan. 3.

Of the figure, 86 arrived from Manila on board 2GO’s St. Therese of Child Jesus vessel and 10 on board the M/V Starlife Venus from Batangas, according to Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, chief of the provincial disaster management program division.

The provincial government is preparing for the arrival of more LSIs from Manila through the Bacolod-Silay International Airport and other major ports as the moratorium on the acceptance of returning residents expired on Sunday.