By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said more than 80 of the new 116 Covid-19 active cases in Negros Occidental, except Bacolod City, are Locally Stranded Individuals.
Diaz said this shows that the cases of domestic infection are decreasing.
“What we should closely watch are those returning and entering the province,” he said.
Diaz said the provincial government is looking into the possibility of requiring LSIs to present negative RT-PCR test results at least 72 hours prior to their arrival if the National Inter Agency Task Force will insist on implementing its approved resolution which provides uniformed travel protocols among local government units.
The National Inter Agency Task Force (NIATF) Resolution 101 no longer requires quarantine and RT-PCR testing upon the return of LSIs to their respective LGUs.
Diaz said they submitted to the task force an executive order issued by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson maintaining health protocols for arriving LSIs.
He said the provincial government of Negros Occidental requires LSIs to undergo swab testing and quarantine upon their arrival, either at the Bacolod-Silay airport, or any port in the province.
Diaz also said that the provincial government is complying with the NIATF resolution by not requiring LSIs to secure travel authority and medical certificates from their points of origin.
But what is important is for them to undergo a swab test upon arrival in the province, and to be quarantined just for a day, and released if the results are negative, he pointed out.
This has been very effective in preventing the spread of the virus, and some local government units even had zero active cases, while others had single digits, Diaz added.
He further said that if they will require a negative RT-PCR result from LSIs, it will be an added burden for them as they will have to pay for it and the province, which is paying for tests here, will save a lot of money.
He said he is hoping that the NIATF will appreciate what the provincial government is doing.
