IN VIEW of the recent confirmed coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the municipalities of Sagada and Bontoc, Mountain Province, Bauko Mayor Abraham Buclay Akilit ordered on Sunday, August 9, the temporary suspension of travels bound to and from these places.

Akilit, in his order, said authorized transportation groups plying Bauko to Sagada and vice-versa and Bauko to Bontoc and vice-versa will cease operations immediately.

Except for health and emergency frontline service workers, the order also stated that individuals working in public offices and private establishments in Sagada and Bontoc swill not report until contact tracings by proper authorities are fully satisfied and until the laboratory results of swab tests are out.

"Affected government agencies are advised to implement alternative CSC-prescribed work modalities," the order reads.

Issuance of health declaration forms and travel passes for essential and non-work related travels bound to Sagada and Bontoc were also suspended.

"Unless the purpose is health emergency in nature, travellers coming from Sagada and Bontoc will be denied entry," added the order.

Uniformed personnel of the Bauko Municipal Police Station will strictly implement the order and will man Kapayawan Control Point at Barangay Otucan Sur and apprehend violators.

On Sunday, Sagada recorded its first Covid-19 case.

The Mountain Province Provincial Health Office (MPPHO) in its Facebook page said the patient is a 29-year-old male who has no travel history outside the province.

Bontoc also recorded another person infected with the disease.

The patient is a 29-year-old male police officer who used to work at the National Capital Region but recently reassigned to the province. He is currently asymptomatic and in isolation.

MPPHO said following his reassignment, the cop reported to the Police Regional Office-Cordillera at Camp Bado Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet from July 20 to 29.

He was then deployed to Mountain Province, arrived in Bontoc on July 30 and underwent swab testing upon arrival.

Mountain Province now has eight confirmed cases -- three are active.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council urged residents to be extra vigilant in observing health protocols. (SunStar Baguio)