Bulacan tightens COVID-19 border controls on first day of NCR Plus

Bulacan province on Monday implemented tougher border restrictions during the first day of the new COVID-19 "NCR Plus" travel rules, which will take effect for the next two weeks.

According to Mariz Umali's report on 24 Oras, those entering the border of Bulacan must show proof that their travel was necessary as the national government ordered a stop to non-essential travel within the bubble of Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan.

Some residents from the border of Apalit, Pampanga were asked to explain their entry to Bulacan because the province is not included in the bubble.

Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar explained that the government imposed the travel restriction to make sure that cases from high-risk areas would not spread.

"Within this bubble area, hindi nire-restrict ang movement ng tao rito pero i-isolate natin sa rest of Luzon. Meaning, kung nasa loob ka hindi ka pwede lumabas, kung ikaw ay nasa labas, hindi ka pwede pumasok unless authorized ka APOR ka. Sa bubble na yun mataas ang infection. Ayaw natin lumabas pa iyon," said Eleazar.

(We are isolating them from other provinces in Luzon. Meaning, if you are inside the bubble, you cannot go outside , vice versa, unless you are an authorized person outside of residence. Within the bubble, there are a high number of infections. We don't want that to spread.)

Essential workers, cargo, and public transportation are only allowed to cross the boundaries.

Meanwhile, 84 people in Bulacan were issued provincial citation tickets for violating curfew hours and the liquor ban in the province.

On Monday, the country reported 671,792 total cases of COVID-19 with 8,019 new cases. Of the total, 80,790 are active cases, 577,850 are recoveries and 12,972 are fatalities. — Consuelo Marquez/DVM, GMA News