Bacolod City has indefinitely prohibited the entry of leisure travelers from Panay Island as part of the border control measures against the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Delta variant.

The directive is stated in Executive Order (EO) 39-A, series of 2021, amending EO 39, issued by Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Sunday night.

“Regional health authorities in Region 6 (Western Visayas) have issued public warnings and information that two cases, which tested positive with the Delta variant, have already been found in one locality in Panay Island,” Leonardia noted in the latest directive.

“(T)o adequately protect the people of Bacolod from the deadlier effect of the Delta variant, it is imperative to review and amend certain provisions of EO 39,” he added.

In effect, the mayor’s new order also “rendered inoperative” Section 12 (a) (2) of EO 39, which allows fully vaccinated Bacolod residents to present their vaccination cards issued more than 14 days before arrival at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in lieu of the negative RT-PCR or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result.

This means that fully vaccinated Bacolod residents will again, revert to presenting a negative RT-PCR test result obtained within 72 hours prior to and upon arrival in Bacolod, among the other usual documents being required.

Meanwhile, under the city’s new travel protocols, only authorized persons outside residence (APORs) are allowed to travel from Panay into or out of Bacolod.

Travel of non-APORs from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ areas in Panay to Bacolod is not allowed.

Both the province and city of Iloilo have been placed under ECQ until July 31.

Like Bacolod, the provinces of Aklan and Capiz are under general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened restrictions” from July 16 to 22.

Negros Occidental, Antique and Guimaras are under GCQ only.

Based on EO 39-A, those from GCQ and modified GCQ areas in Panay may be allowed into Bacolod if they present the required documents.

These include a negative RT-PCR test result obtained within 72 hours prior to and upon arrival; online Bacolod City COVID-19 Contact Tracing or BaCTrac registration; online health declaration; S-PaSS or Safe, Swift and Smart Passage; travel coordination permit; and valid personal identification card.

While leisure travel is prohibited in Bacolod, movement of all types of goods and cargoes between Panay and Bacolod remains unhampered.PNA