BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Travelers to local government units in Negros Occidental with triple digit Covid-19 cases and whose quarantine facilities are fully occupied will be denied entry, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
But Lacson said that inbound travelers to Negros LGUs with quarantine facilities that remain open for occupancy will still be allowed.
Inbound travelers are required to register in the S-Pass system, aside from presenting negative RT-PCR test results upon entry to Negros Occidental.
Lacson said this new strategy is also another way of controlling the number of travelers coming into Negros Occidental.
As of May 6, Negros Occidental had 2,631 active cases, excluding the 980 active cases in the highly-urbanized city of Bacolod.
There are also 10 Negros Occidental LGUs with triple-digit number of Covid active cases.
Lacson said he noted that Negros Occidental is creating a new Covid-19 record every day.
Provincial Incident Management Team head Gerhart Zeaphard Caelian said quarantine facilities in Negros Occidental are now in critical stages, with the EB Magalona Healing Center overflowing with patients.
NO MORE MORATORIUM
Lacson, who ruled out asking for another travel moratorium to Negros Occidental, said that LGUs with overwhelmed quarantine facilities are also sending their residents to the quarantine facilities of the provincial government.
Caelian earlier said that another travel suspension will give more time for contact tracers to focus on containing the increasing local transmission of Covid-19 cases. Instead of inbound travelers, Lacson said that the available spaces in quarantine facilities may be earmarked for local transmission cases, after noting a spike of Covid-19 cases in the past several days.*
