BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson of Negros Occidental urged locally stranded individuals (LSIs) to go home early for the holidays.
LSIs planning to spend Christmas Day in Negros Occidental should return home not later than Dec. 20, according to Lacson.
Those planning to return for New Year’s Day, on the other hand, should do it not later than Dec. 27.
Lacson issued the call to avoid the influx of people entering the province and avert transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The provincial government, said Lacson, will continue to impose strict travel protocols even though the province retained its modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status.
LSIs are required to undergo reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test upon arrival at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City. They are also mandated to undergo quarantine while waiting for their results.
For authorized persons outside of residence who frequently travel to the province, they are required to file health information forms and company information, present itinerary of travel, and submit at least one negative RT-PCR test result a month.
Furthermore, the governor revealed that the Bacolod-Silay Airport will be closed on Dec. 24, 25, 31, and Jan. 1, 2021.
This will give frontliners, especially health workers assigned to swab incoming passengers, time to rest and celebrate the holidays.
On Tuesday, three airlines began flying anew from Cebu to Bacolod City and vice versa.
Lacson approved these flights for “humanitarian considerations.”
He also told local carriers to maintain only two flights each per week, including the Bacolod-Manila route, with a limit of 199 passengers per flight./PN
