Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said this morning that the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) in Manila is monitoring seven Negros Occidental-bound travelers from South Africa, who arrived in the country last week.
Diaz said they arrived in the Philippines before the travel ban for countries in the “red list” areas was imposed.
Diaz said that once they complete their mandatory quarantine and the BOQ clears them for travel, the provincial government cannot refuse them entry to Negros Occidental.
On Tuesday, he said three individuals from South Africa, who were earlier reported in this paper as Negrosanons, arrived in the province Nov. 26 and were refused hotel isolation by the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center.
In an interview today, Dec. 1, Diaz said there were actually four travelers, and three of them are South African consultants of Bio Power Company, and the remaining one is a Returning Overseas Filipino (ROF) from Pontevedra.
He said the three consultants were refused hotel isolation by the Bacolod EOC, prompting Bio Power to take care of their isolation. The ROF went home to Pontevedra, and is on home quarantine, after getting a temporary pass from Bacolod City.
“We hope that the travelers do not carry the Omicron variant,” Diaz said.
Meanwhile, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson stressed that the provincial government of Negros Occidental had no lapses in allowing the entry of the three foreign nationals.
He said the travelers are now under strict home quarantine, and they tested negative for COVID-19, based on their RT-PCR tests prior to their travel to Negros.
Lacson said all three travelers have applied for the S-PaSS and their documents are complete. They listed Makati City as their origin since they spent several days in the city and were examined by the Bureau of Quarantine and the Department of Health before given the permits to travel.
The governor said the ROF from Pontevedra did not pass through the province’s S-PaSS but was issued a temporary pass by Bacolod City. – MML
