84 stranded people arrive in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY –– At least 84 locally stranded individuals (LSIs), six of them infants, arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on a Philippine Airlines sweeper flight organized by the Negros Occidental provincial government on Tuesday.

At least 151 persons boarded the same aircraft when it flew back to Manila.

All returning LSIs passed through a thermal scanner and were swabbed for COVID-19 testing, said Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz.

They also had to fill up health cards for contact tracing should anyone on their flight tests positive for the virus.

Diaz said the LSIs were picked up by local government vehicles for home quarantine and monitoring in their respective towns and cities.

Returning LSIs paid P5,000 each for their tickets.

Diaz said returning LSIs and essential workers under home quarantine were advised to avoid kissing their children and closely interacting with family members until their test results show that they are negative for COVID-19.

“If their test results show that they are positive for the virus, they will be moved to an isolation facility,” he said.

Diaz said returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), on the other hand, would still be placed under quarantine facilities because they are considered “high risk.”

OFW flights were arranged by the national Inter-Agency Task Force through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

The OFWs will be tested for COVID-19 two to three days after their arrival and will be released after seven days if their test results turn out negative.

The Negros Occidental COVID-19 laboratory at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City releases test results within one to two days, so the OFWs who test negative would not have to remain in quarantine facilities for 14 days anymore, Diaz said.

At least 86 repatriated Negrense OFWs, and 24 from Bacolod, arrived on two PAL sweeper flights at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on Tuesday.

Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division chief, said the total number of repatriated OFWs, who have arrived in Negros Occidental since April 28, reached 479.

On Monday, 49 OFWs completed their quarantine stays and returned home to their families.