By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Over 100 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) have arrived at the Bredco Port in Bacolod City on Sunday, January 3, after the moratorium on the arrival of LSIs in Negros Occidental was lifted.

Based on data revealed by Dr. Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Incident Management Team, the M/V Starlite Venus originating from Batangas arrived on Sunday morning with 10 LSIs.

At around 1:00 a.m. the M/V St. Therese of the Child Jesus originating from Manila also arrived with 92 LSIs.

Authorities immediately escorted the new arrivals to the swabbing booths to undergo reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests.

After which they were picked up by their respective local government units (LGUs) and brought to their respective quarantine facilities while awaiting the results of their tests.

Previously, 16 LGUs in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, suspended the acceptance of LSIs until January 1, 2021 in order to give frontline health workers some time off to enjoy the holidays.

The moratorium also gave time for LGUs to either decongest or conduct maintenance and improvements to their respective quarantine facilities./DGB, WDJ