Negros Occidental gov rules stricter measures for inbound travelers to curb COVID-19 Delta variant

BACOLOD CITY—Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson ordered Thursday, July 22, more stringent protocols for inbound travel to the province to prevent the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.

Lacson signed Executive Order 21-38, Series of 2021, suspending Executive Order 21-34 that allowed fully vaccinated individuals to enter Negros Occidental even without a negative swab test result.

The governor said the Delta variant had been linked to new COVID-19 case surges in India, Indonesia, Europe, Israel, and the United States.

“That is why all inbound passengers are now required to have negative RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test results valid 72 hours from the date of swab sample extraction, “ Lacson said in his order.

Passengers who do not comply with the order will not be allowed to travel to Negros Occidental.

The province will offer voluntary testing of inbound passengers at the airport and seaports and shoulder the cost of the RT-PCR test.

Inbound passengers should also secure an electronic printed copy of the approved travel coordination permit issued by the S-PaSS travel management system and show proof that they registered with the StaySafe.ph application for contact tracing.