THE NATIONAL Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has extended Zamboanga City under Alert Level 3 until the end of February along with the provinces of Davao de Oro, Davao Occidental, South Cotabato in Mindanao and Iloilo City, Iloilo province and Guimaras in the Visayas due to the high number of active Covid-19 cases.
But Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, has nonetheless lifted the RT-PCR requirement for fully vaccinated travellers entering Zamboanga City. She said the decision to forego the RT-PCR test requirements for fully vaccinated persons is in response to the clamor of those frequently travelling and recommendations from medical experts.
Climaco said in lieu of the RT-PCR requirement, travellers shall present only their vaccination card and S-PASS or the Safe, Swift and Smart Passage, an online travel management system of the Department of Science and Technology used for domestic travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, she said fully vaccinated travellers coming in from areas under Alert Levels 4 and 5 are required to present negative antigen test results secured from any laboratories accredited by the Department of Health within 24 hours from the time of collection of specimens.
She said an individual is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after the 2nd dose, for 2-dose vaccines and single-dose Janssen vaccine. And that unvaccinated travellers must submit negative RT-PCR test results taken from the place of origin within 120 hours or five days from specimen collection.
Climaco again reminded residents to always wear their facemasks in public places and to frequently sanitize or wash hands with soap and water to avoid getting infected with Covid-19. “There is no better way to avoid Covid-19, but to strictly follow our health protocols,” she said.
The number of active Covid-19 cases is steadily
declining and is expected to be a few hundred or lesser in the coming weeks.
(Zamboanga Post)
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