The national Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF- EID) as of today, March 22, had not responded to the request of Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson for a two-week travel moratorium of all land, air and sea travel into Negros Occidental amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
However, travelers from the mega Manila area are not expected in Negros Occidental for two weeks, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, March 22.
That is because the Department of the Interior and Local Government has announced that no one can enter and go out of the mega Manila area for two weeks, except for essential workers and returning overseas Filipino workers.
Residents of the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal where COVID-19 cases are rising are not allowed leisure travel to Western Visayas and the rest of the country until April 4 unless lifted or extended by President Rodrigo Duterte, Tourism Regional Director Helen Catalbas also said in an advisory.
The Department of Tourism VI is advising all local chief executives, tourism officers and accommodation establishments in Western Visayas that in line with IATF Resolution No. 104 outbound leisure travel from those areas in Luzon is not allowed, she said.
Accommodation establishments were advised to make necessary preparations for notice of cancellation of bookings or rebookings from leisure travelers from those areas, Catalbas said.
“Waive rebooking fees, if possible, to promote goodwill among booked leisure travelers and prospective ones,” she said.*