BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – As flights and sea trips in Western Visayas resume, the provincial government of Negros Occidental directed all its molecular laboratories to prioritize the swab samples of inbound travelers who underwent testing at the province’s ports of entry.
Traveling to Negros Occidental with an expired (exceeded the 72-hour validity requirement) negative result of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is not a problem anymore. The provincial government earlier announced it would still accept these travelers provided they subject themselves to free swab testing upon arrival.
According to Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, provincial administrator, all capitol-run molecular laboratories must release the RT-PCR test results of the travelers within 24 hours only. With this, laboratory personnel are now working round-the-clock so as not to inconvenience the travelers.
Local government units (LGUs), meanwhile, are requesting if they could fetch their respective passengers to make sure that proper monitoring and turnover are observed.
Diaz said the LGUs need to simplify the logistical challenges of contact tracing by picking up passengers at the points of entry.
Diaz advised travelers to voluntarily agree for a swab test, pointing out that it is not just for their own safety but for their families as well.
“We have to do this. Our effort in contact tracing, identification, testing and treatment (would all be for naught) if we don’t screen passengers,” Diaz stressed.
Aside from the negative RT-PCR test result, travelers bound for Negros Occidental also need to secure an S-Pass permit and a StaySafe.PH application, per observance of the uniform travel protocol previously issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases./PN
