Negros Oriental Provincial Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor. | CDND File Photo
DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental- The provincial government of Negros Oriental has declared a state of calamity to secure its residents against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The declaration comes with the closure of their borders, ports, and airports starting at 12:01 a.m. on March 17 until April 14, 2020, said a statement from Provincial Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor.
Miraflor said that Governor Roel Degamo has directed the Civil Aviation Authority in the Philippines (CAAP) to ensure that all airports in Negros Oriental will remain closed until further notice.
While under a state of calamity, the provincial government will also prohibit the entry of non-residents “with or without symptoms of COVID-19,” Miraflor said.
Exemptions will only be made for those who will be traveling to seek urgent medical attention and those who will be transporting basic, goods, other supplies, and medicines; health workers responding to emergencies; and members of security forces like the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Miraflor’s statement said that even the suspension of classes which Gov. Degamo ordered from March 13 to 17 will have to be extended “until further notice.”
Read: COVID-19 patient in NegOr dies
Negros Oriental already recorded one COVID-19 death, a councilor from Tayasan town, who recently traveled to Manila to attend the national convention of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL).
This prompted Gov. Degamo through the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) to declare a state of calamity here.
In his statement, Miraflor said that the provincial government will have to prohibit the entry of non-residents for a period of almost one month and while the province is under a state of calamity.
Residents who recently returned from recent trips will be allowed entry into the province provided that they are able to present identification cards that will prove their residency.
They will also be required to undergo the mandatory 14-day home quarantine while closely monitored by the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team of the concerned Local Government Unit. / dcb