There will be no movement restrictions between Bacolod City, that will be under Alert Level 3 starting Jan. 14, and Negros Occidental, that will remain on Alert Level 2 until the end of this month.
Provincial Administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, said it would be impractical to put up border controls between Bacolod and the cities and towns of the province.
He added that Capitol will continue to shoulder the costs of testing and quarantine of persons infected by COVID, who work in Bacolod but live in Negros Occidental.
But Diaz said the province will be strict in the implementation of the travel policy on the requirement of a negative RT-PCR result from those coming from other areas under Alert Level 3, like Cebu, Manila, and Iloilo.
Travelers from Negros Oriental will only need to present an approved S-PaSS and full vaccination card, since the province is also on Alert Level 2.
Every local government unit, particularly Kabankalan and Cadiz, should also tighten their measures, since they will hold religious activities in the later part of this month in line with their festival celebrations.
Diaz said it will depend on Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson if he will ask the LGUs to suspend some activities, with the likely surge in new COVID cases.
He added that Lacson is personally appealing that children should stay home for at least two weeks, while the trend in new cases is being monitored, although he stressed that Negros Occidental remains free of the Omicron variant.
There are no restrictions as to unvaccinated persons who want to go to the provincial Capitol in Bacolod, Diaz said.
Meanwhile, the Incident Management Team of the province also observed that some cities logged increases in new COVID infections.
Cadiz City has 21 new positive cases in one day and Kabankalan has 15. Bago and Silay cities also recorded increases in new COVID infections.
Diaz added the Cadiz District Hospital, which is utilized as a COVID hospital of the province, is ready for any surge in admission. If the situation worsens, patients can also be accommodated in other province-run hospitals.
As of Jan. 13, there were 15 COVID positive patients at the Cadiz District Hospital. Next week, its new annex building, with a 100-bed capacity, will be operational and can be used by non-COVID patients so that the old building will be solely dedicated for those infected with the coronavirus, Diaz said./MML
