BY CARLA P. GOMEZ
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday that he has designated Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian as the new COVID-19 Provincial Incident Management Team commander.
Caelian replaces Jonathan Lobaton, Lacson’s executive assistant 4, who has resigned.
Lobaton earlier told the DAILY STAR he resigned for personal reasons.
Meanwhile, Caelian, Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division head, said locally stranded individuals (LSIs) will resume arriving by air and sea in Negros Occidental after August 22.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had earlier ordered a moratorium on the repatriation of LSIs to enable local governments to declog their quarantine facilities.
The provincial government is preparing for the resumption of the arrivals of the LSIs, Caelian said, which has included first responders undergoing COVID-19 tests.
Those tested have shown negative results, he said.
Caelian said quarantine facilities of the provincial government were de-clogged during the moratorium on LSI arrivals.
The halt in the return of LSIs has enabled them to accommodate local individuals identified during contact tracing in the quarantine facilities, he added.*
