Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores announced Friday that the RT-PCR test would no longer be required for fully vaccinated tourists visiting Boracay starting November 16.
“I’m happy to report na by November 16, next week, tatanggalin na namin yung requirement ng RT-PCR test sa mga lahat na pumupunta ng Boracay,” Miraflores said in a radio interview.
(I’m happy to report that by November 16, next week, we will no longer require RT-PCR test for those going to Boracay.)
However, visitors need to present their vaccination certificate secured from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) website.
Only vaccination cards from the local government with QR codes would be accepted.
“In the absence ng dalawang iyan, puwede rin silang kumuha ng vaccination certificate sa issuing LGU para makita namin kung saan talaga sila nagpabakuna,” he added.
(Tourists can also secure vaccination certificates from issuing LGUs so that we’ll know where they got vaccinated.)
According to Miraflores, Boracay has already reached herd immunity for its general population.
“Sa lahat ng tourism workers namin, 94% na ang fully vaccinated. Sa ating general population, 94% na ang may first first dose at ang may second dose is 70%,” he said.
“So nakuha na namin ang herd immunity ng general population ng isla ng Boracay, sa tatlong barangay ng Boracay,” Miraflores added.
Boracay no longer require swab test starting Nov.16
(Our tourism workers are already 94% fully vaccinated. For our general population, 94% have already received their first dose, while 70% have completed their vaccination. So Boracay has already reached herd immunity for general population.)
He added COVID-19 vaccination is still ongoing on Boracay to reach 100%.
Meanwhile, the Philippines on Wednesday recorded a 4.3 positivity rate, according to the Department of Health, based on the number of those who underwent the RT-PCR test on Monday.
The positivity rate is the number of testers out of the total number of testers recorded in an area. It measures the contamination level of COVID-19.
Based on World Health Organization guidelines, if a country can maintain its positivity rate below 5 percent for two weeks, the pandemic in the area can be said to be “under control.”
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