By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Mayors in Negros Occidental will still require returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

The decision was made after an online meeting by the mayors with Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday.

Lacson said that the “issue has already been settled with the mayors that a second swab is not needed for as long as said individual will undergo a 14-day quarantine.”

“Our decision is based on Resolution 67, dated August 31 2020 of the national Inter-Agency Task Force,” the governor pointed.

He said the mayors in the province are opposing “the operational guidelines on the management of Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROF) specifically on 7.5 Arrival on Final Destination.”

Department of Health 6 (DOH-6) regional director, Dr. Maryln Convocar, earlier reminded local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas to have their barangay health workers monitor ROFs after the national government said that the 14-day quarantine is no longer required for them.

The national task force this week announced that ROFs can go straight home as long as they tested negative for the coronavirus disease 2019, or Covid-19, from their point of origin and in good health upon arriving in their hometowns.

But the DOH-6 advised ROFs in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod to still undergo isolation.

DOH-6 has previously recorded positive Covid-19 cases of ROFs who initially tested negative at their points of origin./DGB, WDJ