By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Secretary Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer and testing czar, urged local officials to sustain the gains achieved in the fight against the coronavirus disease-2019 or COVID-19 as he lauded Bacolod and Negros Occidental in lowering the number of COVID cases.
Dizon led Friday the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team visit in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City for the inauguration of the Off-site Dormitory for Medical Workers at Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City, Off-site Dormitory for Medical Workers at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) and Quarantine/Isolation Facilities at Barangay Alijis here.
‘We have to sustain our gains, it will still take some time, until such time there is a vaccine, we cannot go back yet to normal,” Dizon told reporters here
He said it may take at least eight months or so.
“We have to be ready for that,” he added.
Dizon said that in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental the fight against the virus was successful because of the cooperation of everyone.
He also assured both Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Governor Eugenio Lacson that the national government is ready to help.
“We are here to help you. But at the end of the day it also depends on the leadership of the local officials to make the difference. We have to balance addressing COVID-19 and restarting the economy. We should allow people to go back to work,” he added.