Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday called for a two-day delay in bringing home 45 Filipinos from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, saying that the facilities for their quarantine in New Clark City, Tarlac are not yet “100 percent ready.”
Duque said the Filipinos, who are band members, teachers and office workers, were initally expected to arrive in the Philippines on Saturday.
“But there might be a two-day delay because we are still preparing. We appealed for a delay even for two days to make sure that we can be 100 percent ready,” stressed Duque.
“We’re ready. Only the beddings are left. But the toilets, comfort rooms are all ready,” he said. “They will fix the water connection today. They gave me a commitment.”
Preparations for the first batch of repatriated Filipinos came as officials in Dubai reported the death Sunday of a 58-year-old Filipina worker because of the coronavirus.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III declined to identify the woman, but described her as a native of General Santos City who worked in Dubai for 28 years.
The Labor department chief said the government is now processing the immediate repatriation of the woman.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered Duque to inspect the facility that will receive the repatriated Filipinos.
Upon arrival, the repatriated Filipinos will be transported to Fort Magsaysay for a mandatory 14-day quarantine as recommended by the DOH.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said they are prepared to repatriate the Filipinos in Hubei province through a chartered flight.
Dulay said they are still waiting for the go-signal of the Chinese authorities, as well as documents from some of the Filipinos.
In a press conference Thursday, Duque said the repatriated Filipinos will live the “hotel life” inside a facility of the Bases Conversion Development Authority in New Clark City, Tarlac, during the 14-day quarantine period.
Amenities include air conditioned rooms with a TV and refrigerator, and a swimming pool.
There will also be “isolation rooms” for those who will develop symptoms, Duque said.
Packed lunches will be served every day at the facility.
The Department of Health initially planned to bring them to Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
But since the place is not yet fully ready for occupancy, they decided on the BCDA facility in New Clark City.
Affer an inspection facilitated by BCDA president and CEO Vince Dizon, in Capas, Tarlac, Duque said the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has finalized the protocols and procedure to be implemented for the repatriation.
To ensure the health and safety of Filipinos in Hubei Province, China, the DOH has recommended the voluntary repatriation of all Filipinos in the province due to the nCoV outbreak.
“We plan to bring back our fellow Filipinos here in the country as seamlessly and efficiently as possible,” Duque said.
While onboard the plane, the repatriated Filipinos will be oriented on the quarantine process and will be asked to fill up health cards. Centralized processing of all immigration documents will also be done.
Upon landing, all passengers will be screened. Those with symptoms will be immediately admitted as patients under investigation at identified hospitals, while those who are asymptomatic will be transported to the quarantine facility.
All luggage and the plane, as well as vehicles used to transport the passengers, will be disinfected.
Duque said the Health department will be in charge of the management, coordination, and logistics of the entire quarantine process.
All DOH hospitals in the region will be on deck for the deployment of medical teams in the quarantine area.
“We will be providing the needed medical logistics including hygiene kits, disinfectant solutions, transportation, and other things that will be needed in the quarantine process,” Duque added.
He said all the returning Filipinos would be treated “with utmost care and dignity” as they go through the process of repatriation.
“Their comfort and welfare throughout the process is of utmost priority to President Rodrigo Duterte and the Department of Health,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the police said six co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, have shown flu-like symptoms.
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deputy director, Col. Rhoderick Armamento said the three passengers from the Cebu Pacific flight DG 6519 (Cebu-Dumaguete) were already contacted and have shown symptoms of a respiratory infection.
The CIDG has been tapped to do contact tracing of the passengers of two domestic flights boarded by the two Chinese nationals.
The three are among the 23 out of a total of 61 passengers of the flight who were already contacted.
Armamento, said three other passengers from the Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 2542 (Dumaguete-Manila) on Jan. 25 are now under quarantine.
In that flight, 25 out of 132 passengers were already contacted.
“All passengers who have been contacted by the CIDG were advised to avoid unnecessary contact with people,” Armamento told reporters in a press briefing.
The passengers showing symptoms were already advised to self-quarantine and stay in a room.
Tracing has been done through phone calls only, Armamento said.
Some passengers could not be contacted because some contact numbers provided numbers were non-existent.
The passengers contacted were cooperative the authorities, he said.
The Chinese couple who came from Wuhan took three flights from Jan. 21 to 25.
The couple arrived in Cebu from Wuhan, China, onboard Cebu Pacific Flight 5J-241.
The couple then went to Dumaguete from Cebu on Jan. 22 via Cebu Pacific flight DG-6519 and left for Manila on Jan. 25 via PAL Flight PR-2542.
Meanwhile, Duque said the cremation of the remains of the 44-year-old Chinese national who died of severe pneumonia triggered by the novel coronavirus has been delayed after the funeral parlor backed out.
A civic group had earlier promised to take charge of the cremation but later backed out, as did the funeral parlor along Araneta Avenue in Quezon City.
The body of the Chinese man, he said, still remains in a sealed in a body bag.
The government is set to decide within two weeks on whether or not to lift the travel ban on Filipino workers to China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Bello III said the two-week window was Duque’s recommendation during Tuesday night’s Cabinet meeting.
Bello said if possible, he wants the travel ban lifted.
“I hold the position of (Foreign Affairs) Secretary (Teodoro) Locsin that if possible, the ban should be lifted,” he said.
The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo is coordinating with the Japanese authorities in providing all necessary assistance to the 538 Filipinos still onboard the MV Diamond Princess, currently docked at Yokohama Harbor under a 14-day quarantine period.
In a statement, the embassy said the assistance they provided the Filipinos includes provision of food, medicine, masks and other supplies.
The embassy also provided its assistance-to-nationals hotline phone number and email, so Filipinos on the ship will be able to contact the embassy directly with their concerns and requests.
The embassy said no other Filipinos onboard the cruise ship have tested positive for the virus at this time.
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Philippine Embassy confirmed that a Filipino seafearer on board Diamond Princess cruise ship was among the 10 people tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus.
The cruise ship was quarantined when one of the passengers tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
In related developments:
• The Office of the President has begun requiring guests to declare if they have recently traveled to countries beset by the coronavirus, or if they have been sick in the last 30 days.
• Philippine Airlines has announced it will be mounting special flights on Monday to assist stranded air travelers as a result of the cancellation of all PAL flights to and from mainland China for the month of February. PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said volunteer PAL pilots and cabin crew will man the special flights serving the Manila-Xiamen and Xiamen-Manila routes. She added the airline will use its 199-seater Airbus A321 aircraft for the planned mission.
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