Baguio reopens for vaccinated tourists

THE BAGUIO City government has lifted the ban on leisure travel, but only fully-vaccinated adult tourists will be allowed entry along with minors who will have to undergo testing for coronavirus.

In a statement on Tuesday, the local government announced the requirements for non-essential travelers, which include online pre-registration through visita.baguio.gov.ph.

Those 12 to 17 years old, whether unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, “must present negative results of Antigen or RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours prior to arrival or during health screening at the City Triage,” the local government said.

“Minors aged 11 and below shall be tested at the option of their accompanying parents or adult guardian.”

The reopening is also limited to residents of areas declared under Alert Level 3 or lower. “Those from ECQ, MECQ, Alert Levels 4 and 5 areas, are not allowed,” the city government said.

“Hopefully our reopening will spur economic activity in our city which had almost been nil for the past two months because of the restrictions that we imposed to manage the cases,” Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said on Monday before the issuance of the official guidelines.

“It has not been easy but as we have been doing since the pandemic started, we will continue to strike a balance between managing our cases and giving premium to the health and safety of our constituents on the one hand and keeping our economy afloat and sustaining the people’s livelihood on the other,” he said.