BACOLOD CITY – Fifteen Negrense students of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) were finally able to return home after completing their mandatory 14-day quarantine at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia town on Wednesday.
They were part of the 23 students from Negros Occidental and Bacolod City who were stranded at the UPV main campus in Miagao, Iloilo during the enhanced community quarantine imposed to suppress the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.
Their group, who are residents of various towns and cities in this province, along with eight others from Bacolod, arrived at the Bredco port here on May 5.
The provincial government coordinated with the UPV administration for the travel arrangements of the students after they were forced to stay on the campus since March 16.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said all the students were cleared in the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for the virus.
“They (went) through the RT-PCR test. All are negative for COVID-19,” Lacson said in a press conference at the Capitol Social Hall on Wednesday.
On May 18, eight other UPV students – all residents of this city – were sent home after completing the mandatory 14-day quarantine at Mariano G. Medalla Integrated School, one of Bacolod’s patient care centers for returning non-overseas Filipino worker (OFW) residents.
In Negros Occidental, 18 others who completed their quarantine at the Mambukal Resort were also sent home on May 19, while 50 other Negrenses, including some OFWs, also ended their two-week stay in the same facility on May 17.
On May 13, a total of 24 OFWs were able to go home after completing the mandatory 14-day isolation at a hotel here.
They were part of the group of 27 OFWs who arrived in this province from Manila on April 28.
Three of them tested positive and were brought back to the EB Magalona facility for treatment.
As of Wednesday, Negros Occidental has nine confirmed COVID-19 cases, including seven OFWs. Four have already recovered – two OFWs and two local residents.(With a report from PNA/PN)
