Baguio City has just reopened for tourism, albeit with guidelines and protocols that must be followed strictly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the summer capital.
In addition to these guidelines, the city has also recently adopted antigen testing to determine if coronavirus is present among its visitors.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) welcomes the new development as it would pave the way for an increase of local tourists from nearby provinces to travel and visit Baguio City.
“Together with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Health (DOH), and Baguio City, we support the piloting of the antigen testing so that Filipinos are encouraged to travel using a more affordable test with instant results,” said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
As stated in the Inter-Agency Task Force on Infectious Disease (IATF) Resolution No. 73, antigen testing is allowed together with other COVID-19 testing methods to be used on domestic tourists and authorized and essential travelers.
In Baguio City, the antigen test runs parallel with Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction tests (RT-PCR) for comparison.
With the reopening of tourism in the country, the DOT anticipates an increase in the number of leisure trips and commuter traffic within Baguio City and Region 1, and in the other parts of the country where COVID-19 cases have been declared low and controlled.
“The reopening of tourism in Baguio City is a calibrated and deliberate move after consultations with the stakeholders, the community, and the health sector. We will never compromise the health and safety of our constituents and visitors. That is why we are working on the principle of safe, sure, and responsible travel,” said Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
For its model performance in contact tracing and containment of the COVID-19, Baguio City was chosen by the DOH for the pilot use of the Rapid Antigen test. The test collects and uses swab samples to test and determine the current and active infection in the person just like the RT-PCR test, but results come in approximately 15 minutes.
Rapid Antigen test results coming from Baguio City will help determine if antigen tests can be used as an official test, or whether testing can be done in the earliest stages of infection.
“Faster and cheaper, antigen testing will benefit potential visitors of the city now that the Ridge and Reef Travel Corridor is in full swing,” Puyat said.