Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is appealing to passengers from other parts of the country expected to start arriving in Negros Occidental on Tuesday, April 20, to agree to be tested for COVID-19 and quarantined on arrival.
The moratorium on the entry of passengers from the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Davao and Cebu in Western Visayas is only up to Monday, April 19.
He has not received any advice from his colleagues in Panay on a request for a third moratorium, Lacson said Friday, April 16.
“Most likely there will be no more extension,” he said.
Lacson said he is still hoping the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will grant Negros Occidental permission to test passengers for COVID-19 on arrival and quarantine them until their negative test results are out.
However, if this is not granted they will appeal to incoming Negrenses and visitors to the province to state in their S-PaSS that they are willing to be tested for free and quarantined on entry.
Those who do not agree must submit negative RT-PCR test results taken within 72 hours before their departure for Negros Occidental at their own expense, he said.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said passengers arriving in Bacolod with expired RT-PC test result because of the moratorium will be accepted, but on arrival they will be swabbed again for COVID-19 tests.
The EOC met Friday to discuss its travel guidelines in anticipation of the lifting of the travel moratorium after April 19, he said.
Travelers to Bacolod City applying for an S-Pass must submit negative RT-PCR results with 72-hour validity prior to departure, he said.*