APORs SUSPECTED AS CARRIERS

THE Provincial Inter-Agency Task for the Management of Infectious Disease  (IATF) may step up its screening of Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs) to ensure that COVID-19 virus from other provinces will not get into Pangasinan.

This was disclosed by P/Colonel  Redrico Maranan, police provincial director, as he cited the cases of Bayambang and Dagupan City where new COVID-19 infections of vendors were reported in their markets.

Maranan recommended to Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) during tis virtual session on September 21 that border control checkpoints be boosted by additional personnel from various agencies again.

He also suggested the return of barangay checkpoints which were found to be effective during the first few months of the quarantine.

In Bayambang, slaughterhouse personnel who were initially infected by the driver of a delivery vehicle that brought in hogs from Tarlac and Pampanga, in turn infected meat vendors of the Bayambang Market.

In Dagupan, the recent surge in COVID-19 infection was believed to be brought by delivery truck personnel that brought in fish from Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, and Metro Manila to the Dagupan’s Magsaysay Fish Market and subsequently infected the vendors.

Maranan recommended new screening and testing procedures for delivery truck drivers and their crewmen at the border checkpoints.

He said the delivery truck drivers and their crew are considered Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APORs) and, therefore, not normally required to present health clearance certificates and the policy has been abused.

This observation was shared by Dr. Anna de Guzman, provincial health officer.

Though Pangasinan is already under the Modified General Community Quarantine, the driver and his crew must still be required to present health certificates citing negative results of their RT-PCR tests and must abide by new restrictions.

In Dagupan, the city government approved a temporary ban on delivery of fish products from other provinces to the city’s wet markets from September 22 to October 5 (Read “City bans delivery of bangus, fish from other provinces”).

Maranan also recommended that since markets now appear to be the new sources of COVID-19 infection, LGUs should restore the one-way, one exit policy which was in effect during the early months of the quarantine in Dagupan. (Leonardo Micua)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments