DOT: 35 tourists visited Boracay on Day 1 of reopening amid COVID-19

There were 35 tourists who came to Boracay island on the first day of its reopening since it was closed down almost seven months ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

“There were 35 tourists who came to Boracay using air, sea and land [travel]. Seven were from Manila, while the rest are from provinces near Aklan,” Puyat said in an ANC interview on Friday.

Visitors to Boracay need to secure a negative RT-PCR (nasal swab) COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours before the trip, book an accommodation with a hotel accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT), and register by filling out a health declaration form on the Aklan local government website to access a QR code for contact tracing if the need arises.

“It is quite tedious, but of course, health and safety first,” Puyat said.

Puyat, however, assured the public that Boracay island is prepared in the event that a tourist exhibits COVID-19 symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19.

“We have isolation facilities in place,” Puyat said.

The province of Aklan, where the world-famous Boracay is located, is under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) protocol that allows  businesses related to tourism to operate at 50% capacity.

Puyat also said that hotels and airlines have agreed to refund or rebook the accommodations and tickets paid for by tourists in the event that they need to cancel their vacation due to COVID-19 symptoms or the disease itself.

“We already talked to the hotels and airlines for refund or rebooking. Baka natatakot iyong mga pasahero na baka hindi nila ma-refund o ma-rebook, so they would lie about their symptoms. The hotels and airlines will allow refund and rebook naman,” Puyat said.

Given the challenges of reopening, Puyat said that the use of cheaper and faster antigen test is key to bringing more people in without compromising safety.

The United States Center for Disease Control defines rapid antigen test as a COVID-19 test conducted using nasopharyngeal or nasal swab specimens and placed directly into a rapid test kit mixed with extraction buffer or reagent to detect the presence of a specific viral antigen, thus implying a current viral infection.

An RT-PCR test, on the other hand, costs around P3,500 to P7,000, and the turnaround time of results is at 48 hours at the minimum.

“We are really hoping for the antigen testing [to work] because it is cheaper and in 15 minutes, may result na. But this is still on  pilot test in Baguio City kasi so far, antigen is accurate if you are COVID-19 positive. But if you are negative, hindi niya nade-detect,” Puyat said.

Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire earlier said that an antigen test, based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards, should have a 80% sensitivity at 97% specifity.  —KBK, GMA News