THE City Government of Bacolod will reconsider the expired swab test results of the returning residents who were affected by the travel ban from April 5 to 19.

Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairperson of Bacolod Action Team on Non-OFW Returning Residents, said they started accepting the returning residents in the city Tuesday, April 20, after the travel moratorium lapsed on Monday, April 19.

"We will consider the expired swab test results of the returning residents who were affected by the travel restriction from April 5 to 19, and we will accept them until April 30," she said.

She added that the returning residents should present their negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results and the City Government will fetch them at the Silay-Bacolod Airport and will be transported to the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient (BRO) Center at the Bacolod Arts, Youth and Sports Center (BaysCenter) for re-swabbing.

The national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) earlier approved a one-week extension of the temporary travel suspension in Western Visayas from April 13 to 19 from NCR Bubble Plus, Cebu and Davao for returning residents and authorized persons outside residence (Apors).

Rojas said the returning residents, who underwent re-swabbing, can do a home quarantine, but she advised them that if there is an available quarantine facility in the city, they can avail themselves of it so that they will not be exposed to their family members while they are waiting for their swab test results.

She said the Emergency Operations Center also signified that they will prioritize to process the swab test results of the returning residents in the city.