The Department of Health is tracking a tourist from Daegu City, the center of South Korea’s ballooning novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, who gave false information about his travel details when he arrived in Cebu City on Feb. 25.
Twenty-six foreign tourists from Daegu City in South Korea arrived one day before the Philippines announced a selective travel ban on North Gyeongsang Province, where Daegu is located, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Monday.
Of that number, 15 have already left for South Korea, while two others were set to leave the country Monday. One person has left Cebu City, while seven are undergoing strict monitoring in their hotels.
Vergeire said one South Korean remains untraceable after he put erroneous information on his travel arrival card. He never checked in at the hotel he listed on his card.
Vergeire said the man is not considered a patient under investigation but said he should be placed under strict monitoring because he traveled from a high-risk area.
Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia ordered a mandatory 14-day quarantine on all travelers coming from North Gyeonsang Province in view of the “confusion” on the part of the national government agencies whether a travel ban is already in effect or not. The Bureau of Immigration also on Feb. 28 said it was enforcing the ban that day—two days after it was announced—because it had to address some implementation issues.
Daegu is where the most of South Korea’s COVID-19 cases are concentrated.
The Bureau of Immigration on Monday admitted that the agency is having a difficult time enforcing the travel ban on South Korea because the ban does not cover the entire country, and restrictions were imposed only on some provinces.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the South Korean government has promised to help the Philippines identify travelers from its regions affected by COVID-19.
Sandoval said Immigration officials are checking the South Korean tourists’ national IDs to determine whether they are residents of the regions covered by the travel ban.
Meanwhile, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration reported that some Filipino workers in Macau were on “forced leave” due to COVID-19 outbreak.
OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac said Philippine officials are coordinating with Macau labor officials to protect the rights of about 32,000 Filipino workers there.
Cacdac said they have yet to receive any reports of job losses from countries affected by the virus since December last year, but admitted that deployment of household workers to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were halted after the government ordered a travel ban to these destinations in January.
There have been no negative signals that they will retrench or that they no longer like to employ Filipinos,” Cacdac said.
But the South China Morning Post reported Monday that dozens of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong had been fired amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
A household service workers group said in some cases, the domestics were required to isolate themselves in boarding houses, in violation of the mandatory living-in rule.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, expressed alarm over reports of Filipinos being barred entry in Saudi Arabia due to COVID-19, following its suspension of entry for pilgrims.
DFA Assistant Secretary Ed Meñez said the agency is already coordinating with the Saudi Arabian government to clarify the scope of the restrictions.
House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. earlier said he was barred from boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia.
OWWA’s Cacdac also said the government has distributed some P84 million in aid to overseas Filipino workers who were stranded in the Philippines due to travel restrictions imposed due to the deadly virus.
He said the assistance was given to 8,448 overseas Filipino workers who were stationed mostly in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The DOH reported a total 86 confirmed COVID-19 cases among overseas Filipinos as of March 2, but still, no local transmission. Japan accounted for 80 of the cases, with 48 still in hospital and 32 who have been discharged.
The United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and Singapore had two cases each.
The DOH also said that as of noon Monday, there are now only 43 patients under investigation admitted in various health facilities. A total of 592 patients have already been discharged.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also reported a decrease in the number of patients under investigation being admitted, describing it “welcome news to all.”
He said this may be attributed to strengthened surveillance, early travel restrictions, and enhanced laboratory processes.
“But this is not enough reason to let our guard down. The DOH will continuously assess the situation and improve its surveillance protocols based on evidence and further developments,” Duque said.
Some 14 quarantined repatriates at the New Clark City showed symptoms of respiratory illness, he said. Among the 14, 10 tested negative for COVID-19 while four were still awaiting their lab results.
All in all, 445 Filipinos—mostly crew members—were brought home from the COVID-19 infected Diamond Princess cruise ship last week. They were transported to the New Clark City Athletes Village in Tarlac for a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The repatriation did not include 70 Filipinos who had fallen ill to COVID-19 and were being treated in Japanese hospitals.