Persons who need to secure medical certificates in order to be issued with a “Travel Authority” document will be required to register in the Bacolod Contact Tracing (BaCTrac) System starting October 26, in accordance with a new order from the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC- TF).
This new health protocol was recommended by the EOC-TF, the central body in Bacolod that collects and harmonizes relevant data that are transformed into policies against COVID-19, a press release from the city government said.
In line with this new order from the EOC, City Health Office (CHO) officer-in-charge Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr. issued Memo Order No. 102320-01.
The said CHO memo discourages chest X-ray as a requirement for the medical certificate, as it “does not detect COVID,” Miraflor said.
“What’s important is their history of travel and exposure, which BaCTrac would help establish,” he added.
Miraflor said that a health declaration and an evaluation of an attending CHO medical officer in Bacolod would suffice for the issuance of the medical certificate.
All other requirements for travel would be dependent on the receiving local government unit, he added.
“We cannot burden Bacolodnons with the cost of X-ray, Rapid Test, or Swab Test,” the CHO official stressed.
Chest X-ray may only be required in special cases that an attending CHO physician may see fit, Miraflor added.*