Oriental Mindoro bars entry of Holy Week tourists from NCR Plus

(FILE) QUICK BREAK Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro, which offers snorkeling, dive sites, and beach resorts, has become a destination of choice for weekend breaks, especially by families and groups of friends from Metro Manila and provinces in Calabarzon region. —PHOTO COURTESY OF ORIENTAL MINDORO TOURISM OFFICE

MANILA, Philippines — The province of Oriental Mindoro is closing its doors to Holy Week tourists from Metro Manila and the rest of the areas included in the general community quarantine bubble or the NCR Plus bubble amid the high number of coronavirus cases.

“[A]ng lahat ng magmumula sa National Capital Region at mga lalawigan ng Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna at Rizal ay hindi papayagang magbyahe patungo sa Oriental Mindoro maliban kung ito at essential,” an executive order of the local government dated March 24 read.

The order covers the period from March 25 to April 4.

Tourists coming from areas under modified general community quarantine and those without cases of COVID-19 variants will be allowed entry into the province.

Travelers from areas with confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants will be allowed to enter the province as long as they present a negative RT-PCR test issued within 24 from their trip, the order said.

Essential workers and those who need to travel to areas within the GCQ bubble for work or business purposes will be allowed to return to the province as long as it is within 24 hours.

The national government earlier enforced a GCQ bubble in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal from March 22 to April 4.

/MUF