BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson announced yesterday that the status quo will remain for travel protocols to Negros Occidental as the number of Covid-19 Delta variant cases had increased to 31 in Panay island, as of Friday.
Only essential travel will be allowed and a negative RT-PCR test result is required for all inbound travelers to Negros Occidental, Lacson said.
On Aug. 7, Mayor Jerry Treñas issued an executive order imposing a temporary suspension of all inbound air and sea travel to Iloilo City effective August 9 to 15 from areas outside Panay and Negros.
Lacson said, “No person in his right mind will travel to this area (Iloilo) if it is nonessential.”
“If they travel, they must show negative RT-PCR test results upon return,” he added, stressing that trade will continue.
Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, who chairs the local Inter-Agency Task Force, stressed the need to also include in the RT-PCR requirement the Authorized Persons Outside Residence, who are government employees, upon entry to Bacolod.
This developed after 12 travelers from Iloilo, nine of them APORs, who entered Bacolod recently, tested positive for Covid-19. It was not determined yet if the travelers, who are now in an isolation facility, have been infected with the common Covid variant, or the highly contagious Delta mutation, Emergency Operations Center executive director Em Ang said.
DELTA VARIANT IN REGION 6
The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development reported Friday the detection of 31 local cases of the Delta variant in Region 6.
Of the 31 cases, 19 were from Antique, two from Capiz, three from Iloilo City, and seven from Iloilo province.*
