Davao City removes RT-PCR requirement for travelers

The Davao City government announced on Monday that travelers via land, sea, or air need not to present a negative RT-PCR result before entering the city starting November 16 to January 15, 2022.

In the Executive Order No. 66 issued and signed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, it was stated that no document will already be required to get in the city, except for possible security checks conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police personnel for anti-crime, anti- illegal drugs, and anti-terrorism operations purposes.

This followed the announcement of Malacañang that Davao City would be placed under Alert Level 2 effective November 15, along with Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental. The Davao region will remain in the same level status until further notice by November 30.

The Davao City government reminded travelers that they still need to follow the minimum public health standards issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. It will also release a new travel guide amid the decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases and the continuous vaccination rollout in the area.

As of Sunday, the Department of Health - Davao Center for Health Development reported 35 new COVID-19 cases in the region, bringing its total number of active cases to 1,780. 11 of these are from Davao City, 11 from Davao de Oro, 11 from Davao del Norte, 1 from Davao del Sur, and 1 from Davao Oriental.

A total of 98,183 people or 94.7% of the 103,670 total number of cases in the region have recovered, while 3,707 died due to the virus.—Giselle Ombay/LDF, GMA News