Inbound travel to Iloilo City by locally stranded individuals (LSIs) is temporarily suspended for two weeks starting Friday.
The Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (WVRIATF) approved on Tuesday a resolution granting the request of the city government here for a moratorium provided that after the period given, “the suspension on the arrival of LSIs is deemed lifted in the areas identified”.
“The RIATF approves the suspension on the arrival of LSIs going to the City of Iloilo starting January 8, 2021 until January 21, 2021,” the resolution stated.
The resolution, however, is silent about returning overseas Filipino workers (ROFs) and authorized persons outside of residence (APORs).
In a message Thursday, Christian M. Nagaynay, chief of the Local Government Capability Development Division of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in Western Visayas (DILG-6) and head secretariat of the RIATF, said that IATF Resolution No. 71 only gave the regional task force the authority to act on requests for LSIs.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, who signed the request for the city government for the suspension of inbound travel on Monday, said in the past seven days, the metropolis recorded 50 new confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.
He said that possibly the “unfortunate spike” was due to the influx of people and the merry-making activities brought about by the recent holidays.
The local government, in anticipation of the influx, mandated that all persons entering the city shall undergo the mandatory reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test upon arrival.
“Notwithstanding this measure, however, there are still a significant number of arriving individuals who refuse to comply with the same resulting in an increased risk of undetected transmission,” the mayor said.
Meantime, data from the Iloilo City Covid-19 Emergency Operations Center showed that the daily average case in the city this month has dropped to four from the previous 14 in December 2020.
The Department of Health Regional Case Bulletin No. 285 showed that as of January 6, Iloilo City was left with 131 active cases out of its 4,694 total cumulative cases. It has 4,413 recoveries and 149 deaths. (PNA)
