LSI repatriations resume as moratorium lifted

(Philippine Coast Guard-Iloilo/File photo)

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – The repatriation of Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) resumed here after the moratorium was lifted.

On Sunday, around 100 LSIs arrived at the Bredco Port here Sunday onboard M/V Starlite Venus from Batangas and M/V St. Therese of the Child Jesus from Manila according to Dr. Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Incident Management Team.

Authorities immediately escorted the new arrivals to swabbing booths to undergo RT-PCR tests.

Caelian added that the LSIs were picked up by their respective local government units (LGUs) and taken to their respective quarantine facilities to wait for the results of their tests.

Earlier, 16 LGUs in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, suspended the acceptance of LSIs from December 21, 2020 until January 1, 2021 to give frontline health workers time off for the holidays.

The moratorium also allowed the LGUs to decongest and disinfect their respective quarantine facilities.