THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is preparing for the resumption of passenger vessel trips under a “new normal” even as it asked city hall for a thermal scanning system as the first line of defense against Covid-19 at the pier in Macabalan.
Port manager Isidro Butaslac Jr. wrote to Mayor Oscar Moreno to request that the scanner acquired by city hall be installed at the Macabalan port the soonest so that by the time sea travel resumes, the Cagayan de Oro port would be ready to accept incoming passengers.
Butaslac said the PPA is anticipating a passenger rush after a long quarantine period, and “we are facing the tedious task of implementing health protocols for large volume of passengers.”
An average of 6,000 incoming and outgoing passengers pass through the port daily during regular days, Butaslac said.
“It was mentioned in several inter-agency coordination meetings that a thermal scanner will be installed at the port to check body temperature of inbound passengers. We are happy with such development because it will make checking state of health of inbound passengers fast and efficient and will therefore address the inconvenience resulting from such process,” reads part of Butaslac’s letter to Moreno. (Herbie Gomez)
