LSI inbound travel to Western Visayas, Lanao del Sur, Iligan suspended

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, September 10, 2020

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the request of Western Visayas, Iligan City, and Lanao del Sur to suspend the inbound travel of locally stranded individuals (LSIs), Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed today.

Citing IATF Resolution No. 69, Roque announced that the moratorium is effective for 14 days from Sept. 7 until Sept. 21, 2020.

As of Sept. 4, the Covid-19 cases count in Lanao del Sur are pegged at 356, the highest in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Mohd Asnin Pendatun, speaking for BARMM-IATF, earlier revealed that local transmission currently occurs only in Lanao del Sur. He also noted that that LSIs and the returning overseas Filipinos were major contributors to rising Covid-19 cases in the region.

Western Visayas, meanwhile, has about 5,346 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of Sept. 4.

Bacolod City, Lanao del Sur and Iligan City are the three areas placed by President Rodrigo Duterte under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Batangas, and the city of Tacloban are under general community quarantine (GCQ), while the rest of the country are under the less strict modified GCQ.*