(File photo) BACOLOD CITY - The Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF) here reported 189 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases on Monday, as infections continue to rise after the holidays and amid the threat of the Omicron variant. "I think we are following the trend in Metro Manila," EOC-TF executive director Em Ang said, confirming the latest figures that came from the local molecular laboratories on Sunday night. She noted that the 189 new cases could be the highest single-day data logged by the city since the start of the pandemic. Still, many of those who tested positive are asymptomatic while the hospital capacity utilization rate in the city is relatively low at around 31 percent, she added. Ang also said only one death has so far been recorded this month. With the increasing local infections, the city government has already reopened quarantine and isolation facilities located in three school campuses. "We have no choice but to reopen because we need these for those who will undergo facility quarantine and for those who need to be isolated in a facility," Ang said. She said eight more facilities are ready to be opened as the need arises. "Once the three are already full, we will gradually open the others," she added. In Barangay Alijis, the city's Midway Referral Facility is being utilized for symptomatic patients on their way to full recovery. Earlier, Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan, medical deputy of EOC-TF and head of City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they have been conducting tedious sanitation and fogging in the isolation facilities, which have not been used for a while. The EOC-TF has also tapped personnel of the City Engineer's Office for all necessary repairs and staff of the General Services Office for the clean-up of the facilities. (PNA) }