Palawan requires negative test results for travellers in lieu of quarantine

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Travellers to the city would no longer be required to go on quarantine provided they present negative coronavirus test results from laboratories accredited by the Department of Health (DOH).

Arnel Pedrosa, city administrator, said in a phone interview on Tuesday (March 2) that to “fill the vaccuum” in precautionary measures that would be left by the scrapping of quarantine requirement, travellers would be asked to undergo two tests for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on the third and fourth day of their arrival.

The tests have to be reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), supposedly the most reliable.

The tests would be free for returning residents and overseas Filipino workers. Those classified as persons allowed outside residence would be given a P500 subsidy by the city government to take the tests.

Tourists and those who are not residents, OFWs or subsidy beneficiaries would have to pay for the tests.

Pedrosa said the negative test result requirement would help authorities prevent the spread of the virus through individuals entering the city from areas outside mainland Palawan, a province heavily reliant on tourism revenue.

Travellers entering the city are required to have negative test results sent by labs directly to the city’s Incident Management Team, which supervises pandemic response, to ensure integrity of results.

People who would tamper with test results would be prosecuted to “serve as an example” and to send a message about the strict enforcement of the rule.

In El Nido, two female tourists were arrested and charged with a criminal case by police in February when they were found to have tampered with their virus test results.

Pedrosa said travellers may still be required to go on quarantine upon entry into the city if these people have not completed isolation at their ports of origin.

TSB