The cities of Iloilo and Bacolod have closed their borders as officials say cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are rising in the Western Visayas region.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas announced Tuesday afternoon that the city's travel ban will be enforced starting Wednesday.

He said the local government made the decision upon the recommendation of the Iloilo inter-agency task (IATF) force on COVID-19, following a reported increase of cases in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

“The Iloilo COVID Task Force composed of private practitioners informed me just this afternoon that the number of cases in Bacolod City is rising. They also said that one hospital there is already fully-booked and it seems like there is already community transmission. They fear that the infection might further spread here in Iloilo," he said in vernacular.

"So we will close our borders for now and see how things will unfold in the coming days."

Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said they respect and understand the decision of the Iloilo City government.

“That is for our own good. With the rising (cases), positive COVID patients, I think that’s for all of us,” said Familiaran.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, through the recommendation of the local task force on coronavirus response and city officials, closed Bacolod City’s borders on Tuesday.

No new cases were recorded in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental based on the latest COVID-19 bulletin released by the Department of Health-Western Visayas on Tuesday.

Instead, 4 patients in Bacolod and 4 patients in Negros Occidental are among the new recoveries in Region 6.

As of Tuesday, Western Visayas has logged 810 COVID-19 cases with 288 active infections.