Rules for tourists revised

BAGUIO CITY – (March 19, 2021) – To enter the city for personal, leisure and non-work purposes, tourists should register online with visita.baguio.gov.ph and present at the borders the corresponding QTP issued them.

Following the strict enforcement of the policy of “No QTP, No Entry,” violators shall be refused entry to the city.

Online registration should be done at least 24 hours or earlier before travel to ease up on the queing system at the Baguio visita site.

According to City Tourism Office personnel Jose Maria Rivera in a media forum last week, a cap on the number of tourist arrivals was set at 3,000 following the experienced surge of arrivals of up to 6,420 on March 13.

Travel applications for April 1 is nearing limit at 2,900; there were 570 applications for April 2, and 370 for April 3. Tourism arrivals in October last year averaged 79 daily, with an increase to 2,359 when travel restrictions were lifted, Rivera said.

Forthcoming data as to an ongoing survey on the city’s carrying capacity shall determine the schedule, frequency and tourism activities, more so the number of tourists to be allowed within the city, Rivera also said.

Arriving tourists should also now undergo either Antigen (AG) or Reverse Transcription and Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests at the Baguio Convention Center Triage with operations starting March 19, Friday.

Negative results of saliva, AG or RT-PCR tests done outside of the city should be presented within 72 hours of testing and upon arrival, it was known. AG-positive and symptomatic individuals undergo confirmatory RT-PCR tests, and if results show the traveler to be Covid-19 positive, shall be referred to the nearest health facility.

Travelers may also avail of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) X-ray scan analyzer as alternative to the AG and RT-PCR health screening method.

Said scan analyzer is available at the Baguio Convention Center triage by Monday, March 22. Mayor Benjamin Magalong during the management committee meeting last Tuesday made it clear that the protocols were set due to a surge of Covid-19 cases in the country.

This is adherence to the hammer and dance strategy, where controls are set (hammer) when cases are high and eased (dance) when cases decrease, it was explained. The present protocols, however is temporary, it was assured. -Juliegfianza