ASIDE from regular commercial flight passengers, military and private plane passengers will also be mandated to present upon check-in at the airport of origin a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result taken within 48 hours before the departure date, the City Government of Davao said in an advisory.
This is in reiteration the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)-approved request of the City Government requiring all passengers bound for Davao City to secure a negative RT-PCR result before they will be allowed to go onboard.
Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) results will not be honored, which the city had previously deemed as accurate in detecting Covid-19-positive individuals.
The City Government pushed for this measure after noting that travelers from Manila accounted for the highest number of new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases from July 5 to 13.
"Airplane passengers remain to be the highest source of confirmed positive cases," the City Government said.
"It is in the best interest of the entire Mindanao community to control the rate of increase of confirmed positive cases to ensure that the health care situation remains at a manageable level for all LGUs (local government unit)," the city government added.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview on Friday, July 17, that this will ensure that air travel can remain open and no area will revert to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Duterte-Carpio admitted the city had considered suspending the operation of the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao International Airport) to regulate the entry of people outside the region.
However, the mayor said there is a need to continue to accept locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) for humanitarian reasons.
Duterte-Carpio said if they do not implement control measures, the city could enter into another lockdown if nothing is done.
"Dako man pud kaayo ang cost sa atoang economy kung mubalik ta og GCQ or ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) because everyone mubalik na pud sa sulod sa ilahang balay, especially during an ECQ [na] very limited ang mga allowed magtrabaho or negosyo. Dako kaayo og effect siya sa Davao City kung dili butangan og control measures ang nagasulod nga positive cases (If the city is placed under a GCQ or ECQ again, it would not be good for our economy. If it is an ECQ, people will be told to return to homes and business operations will be limited. The effect would not be good if we do not have these control measures)," Duterte-Carpio said
.
Meanwhile, all arriving passengers without negative RT-PCR test results shall be held at the airport until they arrange for their testing, the cost of which will be shouldered personally by the passengers.
Davao City remains to be the "Covid-19 hotspot" in the entire Davao Region.
According to the July 17 data of the Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao), Davao City has a total of 650 positive cases, wherein 401 have already recovered, 215 are still active cases and 34 already died.
DOH-Davao, meanwhile, said in a virtual presser the arrival of locally stranded individuals and returning overseas Filipinos may have contributed to the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the entire region.