BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A week-long travel moratorium, covering Panay to Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, may soon be implemented once the National Inter-Agency Task Force approves the endorsement of the regional IATF, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
The RIATF has endorsed to the NIATF for approval the one-week travel moratorium from Panay to Negros, due to the surge of Covid-19 active cases all over the region.
MORATORIUM SOUGHT
The RIATF and Regional Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases, in a joint resolution dated May 15, said that local government executives requested for a moratorium on the trips of non-essential travelers and Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APORs), except APORs in the healthcare sector, humanitarian workers and uniformed personnel, to contain the virus in their respective localities.
Should the request be approved, the joint resolution said a two-day lead time will be given for the moratorium to be announced or disseminated so that affected travelers can prepare, and business operations will not be inconvenienced.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas was initially the one who requested for a travel moratorium from Iloilo City to Negros Occidental due to the rising Covid-19 active cases in his city, stressing that their “health service will get overwhelmed soon if left unchecked.”
On a Facebook post Saturday, Treñas said, “Our cases are increasing, our quarantine facilities are getting full, and it is getting increasingly difficult for Covid cases to get to the hospitals”.
“We are considering to request for an MECQ status since heathcare facilities are almost overwhelmed and cases are going up,” Treñas said.
Lacson, who supported the proposed week-long travel moratorium, said that Covid-19 active cases in the province are still manageable.
“But these can go out of control if we become complacent,” Lacson warned. As of May 15, Negros Occidental logged 3,313 Covid-19 active cases, including the highly-urbanized Bacolod City, while Iloilo City had 625 active cases, and Iloilo Province had 575 new infections, Department of Health 6 record showed.*
