BACOLOD City – The city government here has set up information desks in ports to document the arrival of returning residents via sea travel.
Councilor Cindy Rojas, chair of Action Team on Non-overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Returning Residents, said on June 4 this will address concerns on the monitoring of a large number of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who wanted to go home.
A number of Bacolodnons have been stranded in Panay Island and other parts of the country due to travel restrictions during the community quarantine amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Through the information desks that were established at the Bredco and Banago ports, returnees are asked to fill out a health declaration form with their personal information and travel history, among others, for contact-tracing purposes.
“They will be sent home to undergo quarantine. We will also inform the barangays about their arrivals,” Rojas said.
Philippine Coast Guard-Negros Occidental chief Lieutenant Commander Jansen Benjamin, for his part, said their personnel are checking the travel documents of arriving passengers.
LSIs coming from areas within Western Visayas are required to submit travel authority and medical certificate and should undergo home quarantine upon arrival under the monitoring of their respective barangays.
Those coming from areas outside Western Visayas, on the other hand, must have travel authority and medical certificate and should undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a city government-managed facility and a swab test upon arrival.
Similar requirements are also needed for returnees on air travel.
The city government here has set up patient care centers in various schools to accommodate LSIs while repatriated OFWs are brought to hotels, inns or pension houses, based on the agreement between the city and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
The OFWs are required to present travel authority, quarantine certificate and negative result of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test.
They must also undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine and a repeat swab test while staying at a patient care center.(With a report from PNA/PN)
