RT-PCR test eyed for travelers from Panay

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government of Negros Occidental is eyeing the possibility of requiring negative RT-PCR test results for travelers from Panay Island following the confirmation of the highly-contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in Antique province.

Lacson said he wants to know the real situation in Antique. He is also wondering why it was only now that the variant was confirmed, with one of the patients already dead while the other has recovered.

Earlier, Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao said the discovery of the Delta variant cases is “water under the bridge” because it is already old and it should not cause unnecessary fear among Antiqueños.

Cadiao, however, lamented that the result was only released after almost two months.

“If the situation calls for it, we might require again RT-PCR testing before entry to Negros Occidental, even those coming from Panay,” the lady governor said.

Negros Occidental still accepts COVID-19 vaccination cards as sufficient alternative to the testing requirement for the entry of fully-inoculated interzonal travelers to the province.

Lacson said that they will observe closely the presence of Delta variant in Region 6.

“If the Delta variant appears in Negros in the same manner as it appeared in India and Indonesia, we will never be ready,” he added.

The province of Negros Occidental received yesterday 14,000 vials of Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, and an additional 290 vials of AstraZeneca vaccine.

The governor also announced that they will not follow the Inter-Agency Task Force resolution allowing children 5 years old and up to go out in public, as long as they are accompanied by their parents or adults.

The COVID-19 risk classification of Negros Occidental remains low, and moderate for Bacolod City, in the past 14 days, Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te of the DOH–Western Visayas Center for Health Development said yesterday.

The Negros Occidental Provincial Incident Management Team reported that, as of yesterday, the province logged 1,621 active cases, 515 deaths, and 18,546 recoveries.