ILOILO City – This southern city is requiring all inbound passengers to accomplish an “undertaking form” indicating their commitment to undergo the mandatory reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test for possible coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.
The new policy, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas, will ensure that the spread of the infection will be contained while allowing individuals to be with their families.
He issued Executive Order No. 02-2021 for this on Jan. 5.
In early October last year, Treñas issued Executive Order No. 165, which scrapped the mandatory swabbing of people from areas classified as “low-risk” by the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force.
The next month, Treñas reinstated the mandatory RT-PCR testing of repatriates bound for the city.
Aside from locally stranded individuals and returning overseas Filipinos, those classified as authorized persons outside of residence will also be covered by the swabbing.
But recently, Treñas observed that there are defiant repatriates refusing RT-PCR tests even if these were free of charge.
“We have been recording positive [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)] cases among our returning residents. It is disappointing that some are not cooperating with our safety health protocols,” lamented Treñas. He cited the threat of COVID-9’s new strain which scientists said is more transmissible.
Unlike its neighboring provinces, Iloilo City continued accepting arrivals of repatriates during the holiday season.
Based on the City Health Office’s City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit data, LSIs and ROFs comprise two percent – each having 76 and 88 cases, respectively – of the 4,709 total COVID-19 cases in the city as of Dec. 31, 2020./PN
