- MITCH M. LIPA
About 150 passengers, who arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport from Jan. 6 to 8 and found reactive to the rapid antigen testing (RAT) for COVID-19 conducted by the Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office, are now in isolation.
The first 25 passengers, whose test results were antigen reactive, arrived on five flights Thursday, the 77 were from the seven flights Friday, and the 48 cases were from passengers Saturday, Zeaphard Caelian, the head of the Incident Management Team of the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force, said.
The passengers underwent the RAT, as per the order of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson in the interim period between the issuance of his executive order Jan. 6 on requiring passengers from Alert Level 3 areas to present negative RT-PCR result regardless of vaccination status, and the EO effectivity Jan. 9.
Caelian said some of these passengers were partially vaccinated and others still unvaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019.
The unvaccinated passengers will be quarantined for 14 days, while those who got the shots will be isolated for seven days.
The Silay Healing Center also has 10 non-antigen reactive occupants, who arrived from Metro Manila and are close contacts of the 150 passengers.
Iloilo City in Region 6, Lapu-lapu City in Region 7, Baguio City in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Dagupan City in Region 1, the City of Santiago and Cagayan in Region 2, Angeles City, Bataan, Olongapo City, Pampanga, and Zambales in Region 3, Batangas and Lucena City in Region 4-A, and Naga City in Region 5, are on Alert Level 3, from Jan. 9 to 15.
The National Capital Region, Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal have been placed on Alert Level 3 since Jan. 3.
All other areas, including Bacolod City and Negros Island, remain on Alert Level 2, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, acting Palace and IAFT spokesperson, said in an advisory posted on the Facebook Page of the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson Jan. 6. | MML
