On Saturday, Lacson was advised to go on isolation for 10 days, an extension of his three-day “health break,” after he contracted the virus.
Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz II said Lacson is feeling well although he had a sore throat which he started to manifest on January 20.
The governor had been attending official functions such as the distribution of aid for the typhoon victims in the southern part of the province.
The provincial administrator added that he [Lacson] was not infectious during his attendance there, and there is no need to test those who were with him.
The governor had previously undergone rapid antigen test after he returned in Bacolod City, and he initially tested “non-reactive” at the time and was advised to rest for three days.
Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer has assumed acting governor in the absence of Lacson, he added.
The temporary shutdown of the Capitol, on the other hand, was recommended by the Provincial Incident Management Team.
Topping the list of the department with the high number of Covid-19 infected employees are the Provincial planning and Development Office and the Provincial Legal Office with four each.
The Provincial Treasurer’s Office and the Provincial Health Office with two cases each.
The Governor’s Office, General Services Office, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Provincial Information Office, Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center, Provincial Human Resource Management Office, Provincial Engineering Office, the Provincial Administrators Office and Sanggunian Panlalawihan has one case each.
Diaz said that the lockdown of the Capitol Building is aimed at stopping the transmission of the virus in other offices.
Last week, several city and municipal halls in the province were also shut down to pave way for disinfection.
As of Saturday, January 22, the average growth rate of Covid-19 in Negros Occidental or the increase in new cases in the past two weeks already hit 1,953 percent, the Department of Health in Western Visayas reported.
The daily attack rate or the number of new cases for every 100,000 population for the last 14 days is at five percent, positivity rate is at 21 percent and the hospital utilization rate is now at 63 percent or more than half of the beds intended for Covid-19 patients now occupied at the various government-run hospitals.
Negros Occidental remains under Alert Level 3 (high risk area) in terms of Covid-19 transmission.*