Members of the Bojo Aloguinsan Ecotourism Association (BAETAS) lead visitors in a Bojo River boat ride in this June 2010 photo. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – As Cebu province prepares to ease restrictions for local tourists, the regional health office is asking those who plan to visit destinations here to always take precautions.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), is urging incoming tourists to seek professional help whenever they would start to feel unwell during their visit.
“These travelers, should they start manifesting symptoms and were never tested, should seek out medical help immediately. They can be checked and examined in our Municipal Health Offices so they can be helped,” Loreche said.
Loreche said that while their agency acknowledge the right and the authority of the local governments to regulate the influx of visitors within their jurisdictions, safety should never be compromised.
“The government would want really to open up and make sure there’s a livelihood in our communities,” she said.
On Friday, February 19, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia announced that she would be releasing an executive order that would allow domestic tourists to enter Cebu Province after they are able to present a medical certificate saying that they are physically fit to travel.
READ MORE: Cebu Province to simplify requirements for domestic tourists
After all, she said the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Cebu remains manageable and health protocols have been set up in “established places” in case of an outbreak, an observation that the DOH-7 agrees with.
Garcia also shot down calls for the province to be reverted back to stricter community quarantine classifications and alluded that at least three physicians-cum-consultants bypassed local governments to hand the recommendations before the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-MEID).
The governor has been very vocal on her stance to further ease quarantine restrictions to resuscitate Cebu’s already ailing economy.
Cebu province has been placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) since July 2020 and right after, Garcia greenlighted the resumption of tourism operations here./ dcb