BACOLOD City – Residents of Negros Occidental going back to their hometowns should coordinate with the provincial government or their respective local government units (LGUs) – not with the city government here.
This was the clarification of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the body that leads the city’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis of the EOC, said some non-Bacolod residents are “misguided” and assumed they needed to coordinate with the city government before they would be allowed entry in their respective hometowns.
“We still keep receiving messages from non-Bacolod residents asking the requirements needed. If you’re returning to other cities or municipalities, coordinate with the provincial government and your respective local government units,” Sorongon said.
He cited EOC’s from Oct. 1, 2020 to Jan. 4 showing 29 persons who entered Bacolod tested positive for COVID-19.
Traveling within Western Visayas remains to be “unhampered” and “unrestricted,” said Sorongon.
He emphasized the negative 72-hour reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test for returning city residents must be through swabbing and not rapid antigen test.
Sorongon explained that Mayor Evelio Leonardia’s Executive Order (EO) No. 1 does not apply to them.
“EO No. 1 is applicable only to Bacolod residents who will return to Bacolod.”
Leonardia issued EO No. 1 to monitor entry of residents into Bacolod by establishing consolidated guidelines for them to follow for safe travel./PN
