SAN JOSE, Antique – The Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (PIATF) is proposing that local government units (LGUs) stop fetching returning locally stranded individuals (LSIs) either at the jetty port in Caticlan Malay, Aklan or at Fort San Pedro in Iloilo City.
The LSIs’ families should do the fetching instead but they should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to the PIATF.
Gov. Rhodora Cadiao heads the PIATF, which is further encouraging returning LSIs to pass through the Antique Airport or Lipata Port in Culasi, Antique (for roll on, roll off vessels).
These proposals of the PIATF, however, still needed the approval of the Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (WVRIATF) headed by Regional Director Jose Roberto Nuñez of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
Beginning Oct. 16, PIATF allowed LSIs to observe home quarantine in case their municipality’s community isolation facilities are already fully occupied.
Here are the other plans of PIATF:
* limit truck passage at the Iloilo-Antique Road via Mountain Route in Hamtic
* curfew still from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
* liquor regulation remains
* assistance to farmers by the provincial government is still ongoing, with the assistance of the LGU
Cadiao recently issued Executive Order No. 137-A, Series of 2020 “extending the implementation of a low-risk modified general community quarantine” in Antique.
“Depending on the risk assessment of the Municipal Health Office, home quarantine may be allowed for Locally Stranded Individuals and Returning Overseas Filipinos of municipalities with congested Community Isolation Facilities,” read part of the executive order.
Also as provided in Executive Order No. 137-A, the requirements for LSIs from non-modified general community quarantine areas and from places outside of Panay Island and the province of Guimaras are the following:
* certificate of acceptance and certificate of coordination from the receiving LGU
* medical certificate from their place of origin stating that they are not persons under monitoring or person under investigation and that they do not have any other infectious disease
* travel authority from the municipal/city police station of their place of origin
* undergo a health risk assessment upon arrival in Antique and a 14-day quarantine at the Community Isolation Facility of the receiving municipality
* symptomatic LSIs undergoing quarantine shall undergo reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR)
* asymptomatic LSIs shall undergo rapid diagnostic test (RDT) on the seventh day of quarantine
* those positive in the RDT shall undergo a confirmatory RT-PCR test
* those negative in the RDT may be allowed to complete remaining days of quarantine in their homes
* asymptomatic LSIs may undergo RT-PCR test based on Department of Health (DOH) guidelines
* LSIs with negative RT-PCR test result who have clinically recovered may be discharged from quarantine based on Department of Health (DOH) guidelines and local health protocols
* LSIs who are senior citizens, pregnant and those with comorbidities or immuno-compromised may undergo a 14 day home quarantine upon arrival in Antique, provided their houses are compliant with minimum isolation standards of the DOH.
As of Nov. 3, Antique had 76 COVID-19 cases (cumulative) – six active, 69 recovered, and one dead.
Of these 76 cases, 43 were local cases; 13 locally stranded individuals; four Returning Overseas Filipinos; and 16 Authorized Persons Outside of Residence./PN
