BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Four sacadas or sugar migrant workers got infected with coronavirus disease 2019.
These infected sacadas were part of the first batch of 300 laborers from Antique who arrived in Negros Occidental on Oct. 9, according to Dr. Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Incident Command Team of the provincial government.
They were taken to an isolation facility in Silay City, Negros Occidental, Caelian said.
The remaining migrant workers who have negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test results were cleared to work in Kabankalan City.
On Monday, another batch of sacadas arrived in this capital city and they were all swabbed, according to Caelian.
While waiting for their results, they were quarantined in the sugar farms where they will work.
“They will only be allowed to work when they test negative for the disease,” said Caellian.
The COVID-19 tests will be shouldered by their recruiters.
The second batch comprised of 110 individuals. They were expected to work in sugar farms in the towns of Binalbagan, Isabela, La Castellana, and in the city of La Carlota.
These migratory laborers work mostly as cane cutters in vast sugar plantations.
A total of 5,000 sacadas from Antique are expected to arrive in Negros Occidental as the sugar milling season opens.
They would be arriving by batches so the provincial government won’t be overwhelmed./PN
