This Week in Boracay and Iloilo (August 8 to 14, 2021)

Following the extended enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Iloilo City and its areas, government officials are now planning to strengthen their preventive and safety measures for the possible spread of the Delta variant. Executive Order 070 was signed by Mayor Jerry P. Treñas for the implementation of the heightened restrictions of the extension of the ECQ effective August 3 to 8. [1]

COVID-19 cases in Aklan Province continue to surge recently, and their healthcare system utilization rate also sharpened. Governor Florencio Miraflores acted upon the situation and wrote a letter to the Western Visayas Regional (WV RIATF) and Regional Task Force (RTF) requesting to escalate the province’s quarantine status. Gov. Miraflores cited that the purpose of his request is to ensure that the province’s healthcare system won’t reach its critical level. The joint meeting between Gov. Miraflores and WV RIATF-RTF was held to highlight the need to augment the healthcare workforce in the area.

The DOH R6 has approved Gov. Miraflores’ request to recruit ten doctors, 30 nurses, and five medical technologists to provide better health services. The National Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) also approved the recommendation of the Screening and Validation Committee of the WV RIATF-RTF that the Aklan Province shall shift from GCQ with heightened curbs to MECQ until August 15. [2]

Striving to recover from the current pandemic’s impact in the tourism industry, Acting Malay Mayor Frolibar Bautista came up with a new marketing branding called “Better Than Ever” for Boracay. Before the pandemic hits the country’s tourism sites, particularly on the island of Boracay, its branding was “The 24/7 Island”. This rebranding hopes to attract more tourists. With that, Mayor Bautista called for a virtual meeting last week to share the island’s roadmap with the Visayas Area Business Conference of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

With the help of the technical working group composed of Boracay stakeholders and local government units (LGUs), headed by the provincial government of Aklan and the Public-Private Alliance for Boracay (PPAB), they combined their crafts to create this new branding, the “Better Than Ever”. This new branding wants to convey to the public that Boracay is not just for party-goers but also a family tourist destination.

The Department of Tourism recently included Boracay to be one of the first destinations in the country to reopen and use a pre-registration system for tourists. According to DOT Secretary Bernadette Puyat, it will also be the first to accept travelers of all ages. Because of the current quarantine status and restrictions imposed in the province, the island of Boracay, which is open to domestic tourists, will still require a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. [3]

Given the present situation in Iloilo City, battling against Covid-19, the provincial government will establish a critical care unit at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital (IPH) in Pototan town. This purpose is to aid the city’s tertiary hospital decongestion. The critical care unit will cater to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases from this province.

According to acting Provincial Administrator Suzette Mamon, they are now finalizing their options to possibly isolate Covid-19 patients. They are looking into whether a hotel or other accommodation establishment could be used as a community isolation facility should all dedicated beds be fully occupied. [4]

Visit Yoorekka Consumer Magazine for more travel and COVID-19 updates and guidelines in Boracay and Iloilo!