Three local governments in Western Visayas have temporarily suspended the entry of returning residents and repatriated migrant workers to arrest the spread of the novel coronavirus, the interior department said Monday.

Negros Occidental province and Bacolod and Iloilo cities sought the 14-day ban on locally stranded individuals (LSIs) because their quarantine facilities are almost full, said the interior department’s Region 6 director, Juan Jovian Ingeniero.

These isolation facilities are congested due to delays in the swab test results needed to release those quarantined, and an increase of residents with the respiratory disease, he said.

Local governments also wanted a break for exhausted health workers, he told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.

“Tinitingnan talaga nila ang general welfare ng kanilang constituents na iyong lessons learned na nangyari sa ibang cities, tulad ng Cebu at iyong nangyayari sa National Capital Region, ayaw nilang mangyari sa Region 6. Naging proactive sila na alam nila ang pagkukulang nila,” he said.

(They are considering the general welfare of their constituents with the lessons learned in other cities like Cebu and Metro Manila, which they don’t want to happen in Region 6. They became proactive with their shortcomings.)

Region 6’s LSI ban, which will last until Aug. 21, has left hundreds of people stranded in Manila, said Philippine Ports Authority General Manager Jay Santiago.

TeleRadyo, Aug. 10, 2020