BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Authorities have stepped up their monitoring of Negros Occidental-bound travelers. Fake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results remain prevalent.
According to Dr. Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT), they discovered websites offering fake RT-PCR test results with functioning quick response (QR) codes and complete with fabricated data.
However, Caelian reiterated that they have ways to know if the RT-PCR test results being submitted are fake, and they can directly contact the laboratory which performed the test.
Caelian reminded travelers to refrain from procuring fake documents, pointing out that they are endangering not only themselves and the public, but also their own families.
The province has caught several individuals with either fake RT-PCR test results or travel documents.
Submitting fake RT-PCR test results is a violation of Republic Act 11332, on the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act./PN