Baguio City will again temporarily ban non-essential travelers from going to the "summer capital" for more than two weeks beginning Friday, Sept. 3.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the move is part of the local government unit's (LGU's) control measures to address the current surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the city.
Under Executive Order No. 106 signed by Magalong, the suspension covers non-essential travelers or those considered as persons not authorized outside of residence (non-APORs) "from all areas regardless of quarantine classification."
"Non-residents travelling for leisure or other non-essential purposes, regardless of community quarantine classification in their place of origin, shall not be allowed to enter Baguio," the order reads.
Magalong added that the arrangement will be in place up to Sept. 19.
Meanwhile, APORs or authorized persons outside of residence will be allowed to enter the city subject to health and safety protocols set by the local government.
These requirements include a negative result of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test conducted within 72 hours before arrival. For fully vaccinated individuals, vaccination documents may be presented instead of test results.
According to Magalong, the number of daily average cases in Baguio City increased to 87 since the third week of August when cases of local transmission of the Delta variant have been confirmed.
In the same order dated Sept. 1, Magalong said the total number of variant cases confirmed by the Philippine Genome Center and tagged in Baguio City have reached 162 (107 Alpha, 49 Beta, and 6 Delta).