The Tourism Promotions Board Philippines has granted the city government’s request for a supplemental fund worth P1.8 million for the purchase of antigen testing kits in line with the Ridge and Reef tourism program.
Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, in his resolution, said the administration of the antigen testing is one of the new security measures to be undertaken before tourists from the provinces of La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte enter the city.
“It is a newer diagnostic technology with a turn around time of 15 to 30 minutes with minimal equipment and laboratory set up,” Olowan said.
The vice mayor praised the board for being “supportive of the tourism programs of the city” and for having provided financial assistance to the city’s Tourism Resiliency and Recovery Plan.
Olowan’s resolution was unanimously approved by the council members during the regular session on September 28.
During a press conference, Mayor Benjamin Magalong disclosed that the request for the P1.8M supplemental fund for the antigen test kits was granted. The mayor thanked Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat for immediately approving the request.
It was earlier announced that the city will open its borders to tourists from Region 1. The city launched the “tourism bubble” on October 1.
Magalong announced that the expected arrival of the first batch of tourists is on October 11 as per the registration records through the city’s mobile application called VISITA.
“We have a total of about 489 registrants. As of September 30, 66 have travel requests. Of the number, 38 or 39 are coming from Region 1, 18 from NCR, and the rest are from other regions,” the mayor announced.
Since it takes less than an hour to wait for the result of the antigen test, the tourist to be tested will not be quarantined but will stay at the triage area for the release of the result; compared to a swab test whose result will come out within 48 hours, the mayor said.
Meanwhile, the chief executive assured incoming tourists that the City Government of Baguio is capable of controlling the Coronavirus outbreak in the locality. Baguio has the highest testing capacity in the country, he said.
“We have practically accomplished 43,000 tests reflecting a 12% testing rate which is relatively higher than those of other regions. Rest assured that you will be very safe in Baguio,” Magalong explained.
The mayor also assured that the city government was able to manage the COVID-19 outbreak in two barangays through aggressive testing and contact tracing. Furthermore, the city has a low positivity rate ranging from 0.9% to 1.7% unlike other regions with more than 10% positivity rates, he added. **Jordan G. Habbiling