The city government of Mandaue will extend the implementation of the policy requiring travelers to present reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results before entry amid the rapid surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.

In a media interview on Friday, Mayor Jonas Cortes said an executive order (EO) will be issued to extend the effectivity of an earlier EO that requires swab test results from all visitors coming from the provinces of Bohol, Negros Oriental in Central Visayas, and Negros Occidental in Western Visayas.

The policy requires all persons from these provinces who will visit the city to present a negative test result taken within 72 hours, or a negative rapid antigen test result taken 48 hours before departure from their place of origin.

Cortes said the policy is supposed to end on July 24 after the city started implementing it on June 15.

He, however, underscored the need for stricter health protocols to avoid contagion as Covid-19 cases are rising fast.

“There’s a need to expand because of the rise in cases, not only in Bohol and Negros. We have to be extra careful right now,” Cortes said in mixed Cebuano and English.

He said the city’s Covid-19 isolation area is almost full and the occupancy rate in hospitals is also increasing

Data released by the Department of Health (DOH) 7 (Central Visayas) on Thursday showed that Mandaue City has a total of 560 active infections monitored by the city health office in different hospital and isolation facilities.

On Thursday alone, the city detected 66 new cases, 21 recoveries, and one fatality due to the coronavirus.

Cortes urged his constituents to do their part in the city’s quest to bring down Covid-19 cases by observing the minimum health protocols even in their homes and workplaces.

The city, he said, frowns upon the idea of putting back the locality into stricter quarantine status or any form of lockdown that may harm its economy.

He also urged residents to get vaccinated and called on fully vaccinated individuals to avoid being complacent to prevent them from becoming carriers of the deadly virus. (PNA)

Photo Credit: Mayor Jonas Cortes