BORACAY – Gov. Florencio Miraflores of Aklan introduced enhanced health safety protocols to hotels, resorts and similar establishments here, focusing on workers and tourists.
He also set new entry guidelines, contained in Executive Order No. 003, series of 2021, covering private individuals with official transactions in the island, Aklanons entering Boracay, and residents of Boracay.
Currently, the town of Malay, Aklan which has jurisdiction over Boracay has 11 active cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Majority of the infected patients were hotel employees of a luxury resort in Barangay Yapak here.
Accommodation establishments are now required to have quarantine/isolation facilities for their confirmed cases of COVID-19, and for their workers and guests strongly suspected to have been exposed to confirmed cases.
Employees, workers or staff who develop symptoms while at work or in the staff house will also be referred to the COVID-19 Response Team of the hospital for assessment.
Swab samples will be taken from probable or suspect cases while they are isolated in quarantine facilities in mainland Malay.
They are also not allowed to report to work after their reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing until their negative results are released.
Workers negative for coronavirus are advised to stay in the island even on their day-off, except for reasonable grounds as determined by their employers.
Employees and workers allowed to leave the island for official business or for valid reasons should return within 12 hours or they will be quarantined in the facility of the establishment for one week.
Workers who are residents of Aklan and are going home on a daily basis or weekly basis, however, are exempted from the mandatory quarantine after they return to work.
Government employees with official travel order and private individuals with official transactions in the island are allowed entry only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. without the need to present RT-PCR or antigen test results.
Miraflores also designated the government-run Ciriaco S. Tirol Hospital in Barangay Balabag to conduct health risk assessment for probable or suspect cases referred by health and safety officers of establishments.
If a tourist manifests moderate symptoms, specimen will be collected through swabbing.
A tourist who tests positive for coronavirus will be subjected to a mandatory 10-day quarantine in mainland Malay.
Tourists with severe or critical symptoms will be brought to the Aklan provincial hospital for close monitoring./PN
