The first batch of returning Filipinos from the coronavirus-stricken Wuhan City and other areas in Hubei Province, China will be flown back to the Philippines next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
The DFA said some 50 out of the estimated 300 Filipinos in Hubei Province have conveyed their willingness to be repatriated as the number of novel coronavirus infections there continues to rise.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs stands ready to repatriate Filipinos in China amid health concerns brought about by 2019 novel-coronavirus (2019 n-CoV) outbreak,” the DFA said, in an advisory posted Thursday night.
DFA officials said the first batch of Filipino evacuees will be subject to China’s rules on disease containment, including immigration clearances and quarantine process.
Special flights from Hubei Province to the Philippines will be made available to those who wish to leave, the DFA said.
“Filipinos in Wuhan City and the rest of Hubei province will be afforded priority in the first batch of repatriates. Filipinos who wish to be included in the first batch should contact the Philippine Embassy in Beijing or the nearest Consulate General in their area by Feb. 3, 2020, Monday,” the DFA statement added.
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Upon arrival in the Philippines, the repatriates will be subjected to 14 days of mandatory quarantine in accordance with the guidelines of the Department of Health.
Those who wish to stay in China should heed advisories from local health authorities, and cooperate with government efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, which was first detected in December.
The DFA also urged Filipinos in the affected areas needing medical assistance and treatment to go to the nearest medical facility and seek proper medical care, including treatment and quarantine.
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a temporary ban on the entry of Chinese nationals from China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement Friday, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the order also covers other parts of China “where there is a spread of the disease,” but said this will depend on the guidance of the Chinese government or the World Health Organization.
The travel ban would last “until the threat is over,” Panelo said,
Even before the Philippines recorded its first case, several sectors, including numerous lawmakers, had asked the government to impose a travel ban from China to stop the entry of the deadly virus.
But in a chance interview with reporters Wednesday, Duterte rejected the calls, saying the travel ban would be difficult to impose.
The DOH reported two additional patients under investigation for nCoV, one a Chinese national and the other an American. Both are confined at the San Lazaro Hospital.
Meanwhile, Duque said they are looking for airline passengers who sat close to the unnamed 38-year-old Chinese woman who was confirmed to have nCoV.
The woman’s boyfriend, who had traveled with her, was already in quarantine.
The patient was only coughing a bit and no longer had fever or any other symptom, which meant her case was “mild,” he said.
In the Senate, Senator Imee Marcos said the government must be ready to deal with a months-long epidemic of the novel coronavirus.
She said the ferocity of the new virus became evident Thursday, as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recorded more than 7,800 cases of infection in January alone.
It took six months for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, which lasted from November 2002 to July 2003, to reach 5,000 cases of infection, a Johns Hopkins University report said.
Marcos said the country needs more than just advisories on the use of face masks and hand washing and prayers.
Senator Nancy Binay, meanwhile, said the Palace should appoint only one official spokesperson to speak on behalf of the government on matters relating to policies, advisories, guidelines and other information about the novel coronavirus. She said Duque should take that role.
Also on Friday, Vice President Leni Robredo urged the President to impose a total ban on all travelers from China.
“There is a need for an immediate action on the part of our government over the imminent threat of coronavirus on every Filipino,” she said in a statement. “Every minute of delay to act… could only endanger the welfare and health of our fellow countrymen.”
House leaders, meanwhile, supported the President’s move to temporarily ban the entry of Chinese nationals from Hubei Province. House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said President Duterte “made a very smart decision.”
Panelo on Friday dismissed criticism that the goverrnment was slow to react to the looming nCoV crisis, saying all the protocols that should be followed are operational.
Safety measures have been tightened in the country’s transportation hubs.
Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said his department is closely coordinating with the Department of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine to support its efforts in securing transport terminals from the 2019-nCoV and in closely monitoring arriving passengers.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines is also implementing safety protocols to protect airport workers and air travelers from the infectious deadly disease.
CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said the agency reactivated its communicable disease preparedness procedures on all CAAP-operated airports, especially in international gateways such as Puerto Princesa, General Santos, Zamboanga, Davao, Kalibo, Laoag, and Iloilo in a bid to contain the spread.
Airport frontline personnel have been advised to observe precautionary measures such as maintaining proper hygiene, and regular handwashing, and to exercise extreme vigilance in handling passenger arrivals and strictly monitor those who are possibly infected by the virus.
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Flag carrier Philippine Airlines on Friday admitted that the Chinese woman who was tested positive for novel coronavirus was one of the passengers of a PAL flight from Dumaguete to Manila Saturday.
“We acknowledge that the person concerned was a passenger on our flight PR 2542 from Dumaguete to Manila on Jan. 25, 2020,” PAL said in a statement.
PAL is now coordinating with the Department of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine to locate and contact other passengers of the flight “in accordance with established safety protocols for dealing with a case of this nature.”
The airline management immediately provided the concerned agencies with the necessary flight manifest data of the flight.
The Quarantine bureau will take charge of placing the concerned passengers and crew under medical observation.
Cebu Pacific Air on Friday also confirmed that the woman tested positive for novel coronavirus also took two CEB flights—Hong Kong to Cebu and Cebu to Dumaguete on Jan. 21.
The airline said it is working closely with the Department of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine to contact passengers who sat near her on those flights. With Rio N. Araja, Maricel V. Cruz, and PNA
