Sea travel from Bacolod City to Iloilo City will be temporarily halted starting tomorrow, in implementation of the boundary restrictions of the Iloilo City government due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Lt. Com. Jansen Benjamin, Philippine Coast Guard-Negros Occidental head, said yesterday.
Benjamin said operators of sea vessels in Bacolod should comply with the order of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas or of any other local government unit.
Treñas ordered restricted the entry of those coming from Panay, Cebu, and Negros Island, except Guimaras, to Iloilo, starting tomorrow.
Passengers at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation port have dropped by about 50 percent following the COVID-19 scare, Benjamin said.
From the average of 2,000 passengers daily up to 3,000 during peak season, the port authorities only noted about a thousand individuals who travelled from and to Bacolod per day, Benjamin said.
“The fastcraft with 290 to 300 sitting capacity, for example, now have only 60 passengers, from about 100 in average,” he said.
Benjamin said the sea vessel operators also have to comply with the Department of Transportation directive to allow only 50 percent of the total sitting capacity of the vessel and to apply social distancing among the passengers and crew.
“The sitting arrangement in fast crafts and roll-on-roll-off vessels is now one seat apart,” he added.
The PCG in Negros Occidental have prepared a contingency plan and task force who will act in case their services will be needed because the COVID-19 outbreak, Benjamin said.
Personal Protective Equipment and face masks are also provided to the PCG personnel while doing their mandate, he said.*
BY SHIELA G. GELERA
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