After three months of prohibiting non-essential and tourism-related travel to Sipalay City, its local government has lifted the restrictions to open up its economic activities.
With the decrease in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province, the local Inter-Agency Task Force has deemed it necessary to ease the restrictions and lift the moratorium on non-essential travel for the economic recovery of the city, Mayor Ma. Gina Lizares said in Executive Order 2020-048.
The lifting of the moratorium on tourism-related travel to Sipalay will start on November 6.
However, everyone who is entering and leaving Sipalay must at least comply with the travel form and additional requirements depending on the purpose of travel and the duration of stay in the city, she said.
Those who are visiting relatives in Sipalay must coordinate with the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams for assistance at least a day before entering the city. Contact details of the 17 barangays may be accessed through the LGU Sipalay City Facebook page.
Individuals working in the city but reside in other local government units must comply with the travel form, while residents working outside Sipalay, like in non high-risk areas, will be allowed to travel anytime, but those working in a high-risk areas will be denied entry, the EO said.
Accommodation establishments can start to accept non-resident tourists who comply with the requirements set by the city government, the EO added.
Allowed tourism activities included “staycation,” non-resident tourists travelling in vehicles either rented or owned, recreational activities with strict observance of health protocols, dive schools provided that those who enroll have negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result within five days from the date of swabbing. Walk-in booking is only allowed for resident tourists.
Those coming from areas with a high prevalence of local transmission will be denied entry into the city, and tourists are not allowed to transfer to different accommodation establishments.
Resident tourists with no travel history outside the province within 30 days prior to their stay in the accommodation establishment must be required to fill out the Tourism Online Health Declaration Form, while non-resident tourists must register three days before their arrival in the city.*