IBA, Zambales — The province of Zambales reimposed strict border controls on Tuesday following a new surge in Covid-19 infections and after the National Capital Region (NCR) reverted to Alert Level 3, which places further restrictions on travel between zones of different health safety levels.
The precautionary measures, Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said, are necessary “due to the resurgence of Covid-19 infections and the new Omicron variant, which has resulted in an increase in active cases in Zambales.”
Zambales, which is under Alert Level 2, had only 10 active cases of Covid-19 on Dec. 31, but recorded a total of 65 active cases just five days later.
In a Jan. 5 memorandum to municipal mayors and provincial government offices, Ebdane ordered closer coordination by local government units with the provincial health and tourism offices to enforce entry requirements for travelers from Alert Level 3 areas, as well as unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated persons from places under Alert Level 2.
Ebdane also discouraged government office workers from engaging in face-to-face transactions, suspended group activities and travel outside the province, and ordered testing of provincial government employees who fell ill and have traveled recently to Metro Manila.
As spelled out in a joint advisory issued on Jan. 4 by the Zambales Tourism Office and the Provincial Health Office, fully-vaccinated travelers from Alert Level 3 areas will be required to submit negative results of rapid antigen test (RAT) taken 24 hours before travel to Zambales. The test must have been undertaken by a medical clinic or hospital.
The advisory also disallowed travel in the province for NCR residents who are not yet vaccinated, as well as children below seven years old.
Meanwhile, travelers from Alert Level 2 areas who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated must present negative results for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) 48 hours before travel to the province, the advisory added.
The new travel guideline required uploading of test results in the Zambales Visitor Information and Travel Assistance (Vis.I.T.A) System, and booking of accommodations for leisure travelers with accredited tourism establishments.
Prior to the new entry guidelines, Zambales allowed leisure travel for fully-vaccinated persons, as well as minors aged 2 to 16 years who have negative antigen or RT-PCR test result.
As of Jan. 5, the Zambales Provincial Health Office (PHO) had recorded a total of 9,937 Covid-19 cases, of which 65 remained active. The active cases are in the towns of Botolan, which had 13; Iba, with 9; Subic, 7; Castillejos, San Marcelino, and San Antonio, with 6 each; Sta. Cruz and Masinloc, 5 each; Candelaria, 4; Palauig, 3; and San Felipe 1. Only San Narciso and Cabangan towns had no active cases.
On the other hand, Zambales posted a total of 9,646 recovered Covid-19 cases as of Jan. 5 for a recovery rate of 93.63%, and a total of 609 deaths since 2020 for a mortality rate of 6.11%.
Zambales Provincial Health Officer Noel Bueno said the provincial government continues to roll out vaccines in local communities, and had so far administered a total 320,842 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine, or 70.50% of the target population; 267,494 second doses, or 58.77% of the target; and a total of 8,594 booster doses.
He said the latest vaccination rollout undertaken by the PHO was at the remote mining village of Acoje in Sta. Cruz town, where they administered primary and booster shots and distributed medicine donated by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. (30)