THE Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) has approved the request of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson for a one-week moratorium on the arrival of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) in the province.
Resolution No. 43, signed by RIATF-Western Visayas Regional Director Jose Roberto Nuñez, states that all LSIs bound for the province of Negros Occidental will be barred from entering the province from October 3 to October 9.
Travel for LSIs bound for Bacolod City and other local government units will remain unhampered and may enter only through the Bacolod-Silay Airport.
The RIATF has also furnished a copy of the resolution to the National Inter-Agency Task Force and all national government agencies for enforcement.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier forwarded a request to the National Inter-Agency Task Force for another seven-day moratorium on the arrival of LSIs and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
In a letter penned by the governor to Juan Jovian Ingeniero, director of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease in Western Visayas, Lacson appealed to suspend new arrivals from October 1 to 7 to give time to decongest, disinfect and prepare the province's quarantine facilities.
Due to the continued rise of Covid-19 cases in Negros Occidental, Lacson admitted they are having a hard time trying to accommodate the arriving LSIs and returning OFWs in quarantine facilities.
As of September 30, Negros Occidental has a total of 3,091 Covid-19 cases, of which 1,353 are active, 1,671 are recoveries and 67 are fatalities.