BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Regional Inter Agency Task Force (RIATF) over the weekend approved the request of the provincial government of Negros Occidental for a weeklong moratorium on the return of locally stranded individuals (LSIs).
Resolution No. 43, signed by RIATF-Western Visayas chief Jose Roberto Nuñez, stated that all LSIs bound for Negros Occidental will be barred from entering the province from Oct. 3 to Oct. 9.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said this move would give local government units more time to decongest, disinfect and prepare the province’s quarantine facilities.
However, travel for LSIs bound for Bacolod City remain unhampered and they may enter only through the Bacolod-Silay Airport.
The RIATF also furnished a copy of the resolution to the National Inter-Agency Task Force and all national government agencies for enforcement.
To recall, Lacson forwarded last month a request to the National Inter-Agency Task Force for another seven-day moratorium on the LSIs and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
Due to the continued rise of COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental, Lacson admitted they were having a hard time trying to accommodate returning LSIs, and ROFs in the quarantine facilities.
As of last week, Negros Occidental has a total of 3,091 COVID-19 cases – 1,353 of which are active, 1,671 recovered and 67 died./PN
