CEBU CITY—Passengers arriving in Cebu City via its seaports and airports will have to show medical certificates indicating that they have already tested negative for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
This was one of the stricter measures that the city has adopted following the steady rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases.
City Mayor Edgar Labella on Monday night issued Executive Order (EO) No. 105 to announce the new requirements for inbound travels.
The issuance of the EO caused an uproar on social media after it was not clarified that presenting COVID-19 test results was only applicable for inbound travels via airports and seaports.
The omission drove netizens to bombard the city’s Facebook page with queries.
About two hours after the EO was released, Labella announced on his Facebook page that the EO only applies for inbound travels through the city’s ports.
On Tuesday morning, Labella issued an amended EO to further clear the confusion.
“To remove any confusion about Executive Order No. 105, I am issuing this amended directive. EO No. 105-A clarifies that the new requirements only apply to individuals traveling to Cebu City from other provinces outside Cebu via the airport and seaports. These guidelines shall not cover persons coming from other local government units within Cebu province, as well as returning or repatriated overseas Filipino workers, and returning overseas Filipinos,” Labella said.
Arriving passengers must present an Authority to Enter (ATE) that will be issued by the City Hall. One of the requirements to apply for ATE is presenting a negative result of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The test must have been taken at least three days from the date of travel.
The city has come up with stricter measures after new COVID-19 cases in the past few days, including 59 fresh cases last November 14.
The string of double-digit new cases ended last Monday when only three fresh cases were recorded. In the November 15 bulletin by the Department of Health Central Visayas, the city had 278 active cases.