BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Travelers will be required to present a negative result of their RT-PCR tests, at least 72 hours prior to their arrival in Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson announced yesterday.
This will be included in the executive order he will issue after a zoom meeting with local chief executives of Negros Occidental today, Lacson said.
During the meeting, Lacson also said he will enjoin all mayors to implement resolution number 101 of the National Inter Agency Task Force which provides a uniform travel protocol among LGUs, starting March 15.
Under the revised protocols, travel authority and medical certificates are no longer required for travelers. The resolution also states that travelers are no longer required to undergo quarantine unless they exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 upon arrival at their destination.
COVID-19 testing is also not mandatory, unless the concerned LGU makes it a requirement.
Lacson said that swab testing at the Bacolod Silay-Airport for arriving travelers is available for those who wanted to be tested again.
“For those who want to be quarantined, we will still offer them a quarantine area,” he added.
“But this is purely voluntary. We cannot do otherwise,” Lacson said, noting that majority of Locally Stranded Individuals infected by the virus, came from Manila and Cebu.
The governor said it is okay with him if the travelers do not have the negative RT-PCR test result but wanted to be swabbed at the airport.
Lacson said he will request the airlines not to allow passengers to board the plane if they do not have the negative RT-PCR results.
At present, the provincial government of Negros Occidental pays for the RT-PCR tests of arriving travelers.
Covid-19 testing czar Vince Dizon said that they are now reviewing the protocols in NIATF resolution number 101, following the increasing cases of Covid -19 in other areas of the country.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said yesterday that the department will release a memorandum circular since some LGUs still do not comply with the Resolution No. 101 of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Malaya warned that the DILG will issue show-cause orders to LGUs that will fail to comply with the IATF resolution once the department releases the memorandum circular.*
