The Puerto Princesa City Incident Management Team (IMT) has revised its guidelines for inbound travelers on Monday, requiring fully-vaxxed travelers to secure a negative antigen test a day before their flight.
“Fully-vaxxed travelers will now need to secure negative antigen test one day prior to departure. Unvaxxed or partially-vaxed should have negative RT-PCR test, two days prior to departure,” city Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) spokesperson Atty. Norman Yap said in a text message.
The new requirement applies to all fully-vaccinated returning residents, authorized persons outside residence (APORs), and minors.
Yap also added that there will also be mandatory facility quarantine for APORs at their own expense if they will be visiting for five or more days.
“7-day quarantine for APORs staying for five days or more and for travelers who are unvaxxed or partially-vaxxed – but we are still waiting for concurrence from the regional IATF,” Yap added.
When asked if the city government is thinking of adopting stricter protocols due to the recent rise in cases of the COVID-19 Omnicron variant in the country, city administrator Atty. Arnel Pedrosa stated
“Alert Level 2 pa rin ang Puerto Princesa City, so maintained ang restrictions under that level,” he said in a text message on the same day.
The revised guidelines also stated that minors aged 11 and below will need to secure a negative antigen test a day before their travel. Those aged 12 to 17 need also need to secure a negative antigen test, while those who are partially or unvaccinated need to secure an RT-PCR test. S-Pass application is also not required for minors 17 and below.