Tourists required to present negative RT-PCR to enter Aurora province

MABALACAT CITY—Fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or not, tourists from areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) without heightened restrictions and modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) would need to present negative swab test results before they could go to beaches and other tourist spots in Aurora province.

This was based on the July 16 executive order issued by Aurora Gov. Gerardo Noveras on “opening” the province to local tourists beginning August 1.

“Only tourists with negative RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test valid within 72 hours from the date of release shall be allowed entry,” the order stated.

Noveras’ order did not mention anything about fully vaccinated tourists, but some netizens who tried but failed to enter Aurora said they had been told that “even fully vaccinated persons could still be infected by COVID-19.

Noveras is among the fully vaccinated individuals who got infected with COVID-19. He contracted the virus after taking his second dose of the vaccine in May.

On June 23, Dingalan town opened its doors to tourists from Central Luzon and the Ilocos regions under MGCQ, the least restrictive quarantine classification.

Tourists from the two regions under MGCQ were no longer required to present negative results of rapid or antigen tests, according to the town’s tourism office.

Dingalan is separated by mountains from the rest of Aurora and could be reached only through Nueva Ecija province.

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