Seven more travelers from South Africa, where the feared COVID-19 Omicron variant was first detected, are scheduled to arrive in Negros Occidental and will be closely monitored, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, December 1.
The provincial government was provided a list of the seven persons by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), he said.
The BOQ should take care of them before they are cleared for travel to Negros Occidental, he added.
The seven arrived in Manila before the national government banned the entry of travelers from South Africa to protect the country from the Omicron variant, Diaz said.
“We just hope they have no Omicron virus and we are safe,” he said.
Four travelers from South Africa who entered the country and Negros Occidental last week before the ban are in quarantine and were tested for COVID-19, Diaz said. Their results were not out yet.
Three are consultants of a power firm, while the fourth one is a returning Filipino.
The returning Filipino entered the province with a pass through permit from Bacolod City and proceeded to Pontevera, where he has been quarantined.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Negros Occidental had not let its guard down when the three consultants entered the province, since at the time South Africa was still a green country.
They arrived before the ban on travelers from South Africa was imposed and were cleared by the BOQ, he pointed out.*