BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The local government of San Carlos City in Negros Occidental prohibited non-essential travel among its residents due to rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Mayor Renato Gustilo urged residents to stay home as much as possible.
“To contain the spread of the dreaded virus, it is the policy of San Carlos City to ban non-essential travel. Citizens are enjoined to stay home except for front-liners, and for purposes of accessing basic needs and for emergency medical needs,” read part of Gustilo’s Executive Order 227.
People are still allowed to go out but their movement is limited only to accessing basic and emergency medical needs, he stressed.
Among those exempted are frontliners, and essential workers.
Non-residents, meanwhile, are allowed to enter the city but only for the purpose of delivering food, essential supplies, and basic services to the city.
Gustilo urged private companies operating in the city to house their non-resident employees or adopt a “work from home” arrangement.
Persons aged 15 years old and below, above 65 years old and those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health risks are not allowed to go out of their homes except when obtaining essential goods or if they are currently employed in permitted industries and offices.
Strict border controls have also been imposed in the city’s main entry and exit points, and they have also adopted an odd-even number scheme for public transportation.
Market passes are issued to local residents and used upon entering the city’s public market, and barangays were ordered to immediately implement zonal clustering of critical zones as part of the city’s COVID-19 response./PN
