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Research and innovation projects are turning green challenges into opportunities to spur Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Wildfire preparedness and resilience, large-scale restoration of freshwater ecosystems, the world’s biggest electrolyser fo… Source Link: Source expo.vision

RT-PCR requirement for travelers remains

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The City Health Office (CHO) on Thursday rejected a proposal by local lawmakers to ease travel restrictions here by allowing fully vaccinated persons to enter Zamboanga without reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) requirement.Councilman John Dalipe passed a resolution asking the local Covid task force to exempt fully vaccinated individuals from the mandatory RT-PCR test when entering the city.In a statement released, the CHO said it acknowledges the intent of the Sangguniang Panlungsod in passing the resolution, but the high number of Covid-19 cases here and the public health prevent it from easing the regulation set by the local government."We, in the medical sector, likewise would very much want to write this off from the requirement list for travelers to ease our burdens and pave way for lesser travel restrictions. However, we take into consideration the general welfare of the people of Zamboanga, and that of the neighboring provinces and cities," it said.The CHO under Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite described the current health situation in Zamboanga as "volatile" and cited data which shows over 2,400 active Covid-19 cases here."Bed occupancy rate for both hospitals and isolation facilities remains at a critical level, and the oxygen supply is depleting, overburdening our stretched health care facilities and health care workers. These are reasons why the city has been reverted to MECQ since October 16," the CHO said, referring to the modified enhanced community quarantine classification for Zamboanga until the end of October, and this may still be extended due to the rising infections in the community.The City Health Office said the RT-PCR requirement for fully vaccinated individuals should remain for three primary reasons: only 25 percent of the targeted eligible population is fully vaccinated as of today; there are vaccine breakthrough infections, and there is not enough study to prove that vaccinated individuals are not infectious and there are concerns about easy-to-tamper vaccination cards."We have to control the situation first before we can withdraw the RT-PCR requirement for fully vaccinated individuals. Otherwise, we will risk another surge and another Covid variant coming in through our borders. The City Government and the LIATF in collaboration with agencies and sectors concerned are exerting its best effort to arrest and curb Covid transmission. For now, we need everyone's support and cooperation to win the fight against Covid-19," it said.Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar issued an executive order making it mandatory for all travelers — fully vaccinated or not — entering Zamboanga to present their negative RT-PCR test result and S-PaSS or the Safe, Swift and Smart Passage Digital Travel Management System, especially now that the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 dominant in the country.The local government also started random rapid antigen tests among travelers, including those under essential services, at all entry points here to help curb the spread of Covid-19.

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