BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson halted the entry of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from Cebu into this province following a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections here.
Most of the positive cases in the province were from stranded individuals arriving from Cebu.
On June 24, Negros Occidental recorded its most number of coronavirus cases in one day with 21, all were LSIs from Cebu who arrived in the province this month.
Because of this, the governor asked the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to expand the existing travel ban out of Cebu City, to now include the entire Cebu province.
He also wanted the stranded individuals from Cebu to undergo real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for COVID-19 before departing for Negros Occidental.
“We have to do this, not only our quarantine facilities are overwhelmed, but as much as possible, we don’t like to be receiving positive cases. It’s very clear the epicenter is in Cebu. Precisely, the president instructed (Environment) Secretary (Roy) Cimatu to take care of the situation in Cebu,” he said.
He said that he was hoping the IATF can decide quickly on the request.
He added it was not only him who requested to include Cebu province in the ban, but there are also other governors who made the appeal. – Rappler.com
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