The about 3,000 migrant workers arriving in Negros Occidental for the sugarcane harvest season are required to have booster shots against COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, September 22.
They will no longer be required to undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction) or Rapid Antigen Tests but they must have booster shots, he said.
Their vaccination cards will be checked on entry into Negros Occidental, “we will make sure nobody comes in who is not boostered”, he said.
The migrant workers will be picked up by their employers on their arrival and brought directly to their farm quarters for observation for a number of days before they are allowed to mingle with others, Diaz added.
Meanwhile, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson reminded drivers not to drink and drive to avoid accidents that usually happen during the sugar milling season.
Sugarcane trucks park on the side of the road because there are certain hours when they cannot traverse on roads, Lacson said.
Accidents usually happen when drivers of vehicles, including motorcycles, are not sober and ram into the parked trucks, he said.*