Border checks tightened in Dagupan, Angeles

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines — The local government said it was planning to prohibit the entry of unvaccinated individuals into its borders, citing the “extreme transmissibility” of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.Mayor Brian Lim said all mass gatherings would be prohibited in the city, although visits to beaches and other outdoor activities would still be allowed.

Lim said localized lockdowns would be imposed if needed, but home quarantine would be allowed for infected individuals with mild symptoms.

“We cannot stop the virus from coming to our city, or to most [local government units] for that matter. But we want to slow down its spread by acting before it happens. So we have restrictions and security prepared in anticipation of its spread,” Lim told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

He said they were already preparing hospitals and quarantine facilities, and planning the deployment of nurses in anticipation of a spike in COVID-19 cases.

The city government will also reestablish a COVID-19 testing site at one of the private facilities or retain the testing at the city health office grounds to address the possible increase in number of residents requiring a COVID-19 test.

Quarantine checkpoint

In Angeles City, the local government has reestablished a quarantine checkpoint at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) exit as a precautionary measure against the spread of Omicron.

People entering the city via NLEx will now be asked to present their valid vaccination cards, according to the city’s advisory on Monday.

Unvaccinated individuals coming from outside Pampanga province may only be allowed entry into the city after presenting their negative antigen or RT-PCR test result administered and released in the last 48 hours.

The city government also directed all restaurants, cafes and other food establishments to allow only persons with vaccination cards inside their premises. Unvaccinated individuals will be allowed only in al fresco or outdoor areas.

Mall managements were required to instruct their security guards at the entrance to consistently ask all customers to present their vaccination cards before allowing them entry into the mall premises.

On Monday, the city registered three new COVID-19 cases, no recoveries and a single death. The fatality was a resident of Amsic village. The city’s active cases stood at eight.

Since 2020, Angeles has recorded a total of 12,559 cases of which 12,033 have recovered while 518 had died.

Classes suspended

In Bulacan, Gov. Daniel Fernando said the planned in-person classes at the start of 2022 would be postponed after the province was placed under the more stringent alert level 3.

In-person classes scheduled by the Bulacan State University in its four colleges in February have been canceled due to the heightened alert status, according to university president Cecilia Gascon.

As of Tuesday, Bulacan’s active COVID-19 cases rose from 58 to 551. This sharp increase happened in just a week, records showed.

—REPORTS FROM YOLANDA SOTELO, JUN MALIG AND CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE