Ilocos Norte bans returning residents anew amid virus surge

Strict border measures are being enforced in Ilocos Norte’s capital city of Laoag. The temporary ban for the entry of returning residents has been extended until Aug. 31 as the province contains the spread of COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of Laoag City government.)

LAOAG CITY—The province of Ilocos Norte has extended until the end of August its ban on residents who will return home as it tries to avert further a COVID-19 outbreak, which highly contagious variants of the virus have fueled, officials said on Thursday (Aug. 19).

The InterAgency Task Force approved the extended travel restriction for the Management on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) in the Ilocos region. The ban was supposed to be lifted on Aug. 15.

In a joint resolution on Tuesday, the IATF said that the ban covers visiting residents, individuals with non-essential trips to the province, returning students, tourists, and other individuals stranded in other provinces and regions.

IATF, however, exempted from the ban those persons returning to the province for medical or humanitarian reasons, but their travel to the province should be properly coordinated with the provincial government.

Returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) who are completing their mandatory quarantine in facilities in Metro Manila and those “in transit” or have booked their returning flights to the country until Aug. 31 are also exempted from the ban, said Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc during a press briefing on Monday.

The provincial government implemented the tough border control on Aug. 3 in a move to “better manage the COVID-19 situation” as the province had been grappling with rising COVID-19 cases despite strict border curbs.

At least 21 of the 23 towns and cities are under enhanced community quarantine, the most strict containment classification in the country, until Aug. 31.

In the latest report of the Department of Health, 13 of the 16 cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the Ilocos region were detected in Ilocos Norte.