BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The three foreigner consultants of BioPower Company in Negros Occidental who are South Africans, tested negative for COVID-19, according to Provincial Incident Management Team head Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian.
The three foreign consultants of BioPower, arrived in Negros Occidental, on November 25 and 26, before the banning of travelers from South Africa entering the country took effect.
South Africa was placed under a “Red List” by the national government following the discovery of the heavily mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19 in South Africa.
Caelian also reported that the Returning Overseas Filipino from South Africa, who also arrived in the country and returned to his hometown in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, was also tested negative of the coronavirus.
The three foreigners and the ROF are still under a 14-day isolation in their respective quarantine facilities in Calatrava, Manapla and La Carlota City, as well as Pontevedra, Negros Occidental.
Provincial Inter Agency Task Force action officer Rayfrando Diaz said that seven other Negrenses from South Africa who are bound for Negros Occidental, were also placed under quarantine by the Bureau of Quarantine in Manila.
Diaz said that the seven Negrenses are still in the hotel. “I hope they are physically there, and serving their 14-day quarantine,” he added.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental had been criticized in social media for the entry of South Africans in the province, despite their strict implementation of S-PaSS requirements from inbound travelers.
Diaz also strongly debunked claims that the three South African residents slipped through health protocols of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
There is no cause for concern. They are well. They are not exhibiting negative or adverse symptoms, he said.
Diaz said that the three South Africans have been issued with certificates of vaccination by the Bacolod City Bureau of Quarantine.
All the documentary requirements have been fulfilled by three, except for ROF, who applied for pass-through S-PaSS in Bacolod City, so we were not able to secure his health documents, he added.
There is no special treatment for them, Diaz stressed.*
