THE city governments of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu will be requiring travelers from Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental and Bohol to secure a negative RT-PCR test or antigen test result if they plan to travel to the two cities.
Aside from these three provinces, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said he will also require travelers from ‘NCR Plus’ to present a negative Covid test result before traveling to his city.
This as Bohol, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and NCR plus continued to record a steady rise of Covid-19 cases with Bohol and Negros Oriental recording about a hundred cases daily since June 12, 2021.
NCR Plus is composed of Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.
“Because of the rising cases in our neighboring provinces, we have to of course defend our city and province from the entry of these new variants that are now spreading in other provinces,” said Chan.
For his part, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes released an executive order on Monday, June 14, regulating the entry of any person coming from Bohol, Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental effective 12:01 a.m. on June 15 until June 24.
In his order, Cortes said persons coming from these three provinces entering Mandaue through its ports of entry are required to provide a negative RT-PCR test result taken 72 hours before their departure from their port of origin or a negative rapid antigen test result taken 48 hours prior to departure.
Cortes said they are coordinating with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police for the order’s enforcement.
The two agencies are monitoring ports in Mandaue City, particularly Ouano Wharf, which has vessels coming in directly from Bohol, said Cortes.
Cortes said Mandaue City cannot afford to be complacent considering its economy and constituents have already suffered enough from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.