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NegOcc prov’l offices ‘back to normal’ by June 1

By Nanette Guadalquiver

May 31, 2022, 7:42 pm

<p>The facade of the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City. <em>(PNA Bacolod file photo)</em></p>

The facade of the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City. (PNA Bacolod file photo)

BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Tuesday the province will return to normal by June 1 after more than two years of battling the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“Starting June 1, we will go back to normalcy already,” he told reporters.

This week, the Provincial Capitol offices will resume the five-day workweek and the curfew is also expected to be lifted across the province.

Lacson said the recent increase in active Covid-19 cases is “something that we were warned about before”.

The Provincial Incident Management Team data showed the number of infections jumped from only 14 on May 24 to already 31 on May 25.

As of May 30, active Covid-19 cases in the province totaled 30.

“No of course not, it should not be a cause for alarm. In yesterday’s status, we have gone down again as far as active cases is concerned. Let’s continue to wear our face masks,” the governor said.

“This is already a behavioral concern. While we want to have more movement, at the same time we should continue to protect ourselves by doing the basics, which are wearing a face mask and a little distancing,” he added.

On June 3, it will be the first Friday the provincial government employees will report to their offices since April 16 last year when Lacson ordered to adopt a four-day work-week scheme anew as part of the measures to limit the movement of Negrenses due to Covid-19.

Under the set-up, Capitol-based offices opened only from Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and were closed every Friday.

The provincial government started to implement a four-day work-week arrangement on Aug. 28, 2020 as a measure to curb the spread of Covid-19. After which employees returned to a five-day work-week duty on Nov. 9 of the same year. (PNA)

 

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