The provincial government of Zambales has prevented at least 459 travelers from entering the province from April 3 to April 11 as it attempts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 within the area.
As of April 11, 302 males and 157 females have been denied access to enter the province.
Police officers and designated focal persons manning the scan points stated that the rejection is due to the following reasons: (1) failure to present proof of residence, (2) no identification card (ID), (3) no proof of negative RT-PCR results, (4) No S-PaSS Travel Coordination Permit (TCP), and (5) refusal to undergo Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).
Last March, Gov. Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr. has ordered the enforcement of stricter measures regarding the entry of visitors to prevent the surge of COVID-19 cases in the province. Under Section 3 of Executive Order No. 07, the use of Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) shall be an additional entry requirement for travelers, residents, and non-residents. This online travel management system aims for a uniform travel protocols for all local government units (LGUs) in the country as approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
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Since its implementation on April 1, Zambales ranked 3rd in the highest number of approved TCPs with 2, 725, next to Ilocos Sur with 11, 470 and Negros Occidental with 3, 908 according to the report of DOST as of April 8.
“The S-PaSS is meant to benefit not only the travelers but also the authorities to properly monitor the movement of people in different locations in the effort to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus,” Ebdane stated.
The S-PaSS is also adopted “with an aim to slowly open the province in a proper, safe and secure process,” he added.
As of April 10, Zambales has recorded a total of 1,391 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which, 196 were active cases. Since last year, the province has also posted a total of 1,165 recoveries and 29 deaths from Covid-19 infection.