MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) has denied reports that an airplane full of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-positive locally stranded individuals (LSIs) landed in Bacolod City.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who also serves as spokesperson of the IATF-EID, dismissed as false the report that went viral online Monday last week.
“Fake news po ‘yung balita na may isang eroplano dumating sa Bacolod na puno ng LSIs na positibo raw sa COVID-19,” Roque said in a virtual press conference.
Roque added that the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez reiterated to him that no such incident took place in Bacolod City.
“Nakakalungkot lamang na may mga kababayan tayo na nagpapakalat ng maling balita kahit sa panahon ng pandemya,” he lamented.
The NTF against COVID-19 recently approved a 14-day suspension of repatriation of LSIs to Iloilo City, Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
The memorandum signed by NTF Against COVID-19 chief Delfin Lorenzana was based on Resolution No. 28 of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force-Region 6 and Regional Task Force COVID-19 Region 6 requesting for the moratoriumn.
Lorenzana first approved the suspension of the return of Region 6-based LSIs on June 28 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Western Visayas./PN
