(Eagle News) — The travel ban announced by President Rodrigo Duterte following the confirmation of the Philippines’ first novel coronavirus case also covers other places in China where there is “a spread of the disease, as officially confirmed by the Chinese government.”
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the temporary ban on travelers coming from those areas was upon the recommendation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Earlier, Duterte, Senator Bong Go said, ordered a ban on travelers only from Hubei, China, where the virus was first identified.
“(The travel ban) will last until the threat is over given that the safety of our countrymen is foremost in the President’s mind,” Panelo said.
According to Panelo, the DOH has also been instructed to “commence the protocols it has prepared” to contain the disease and “neutralize its transmission and spread.”
Panelo said as it is, though, “there is no way” that the woman, who was the Philippines’ first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, “will transmit the disease to another person as the hospital personnel are protectively dressed and their mouths and noses covered with surgical masks plus their hands covered with gloves.”
“Per DOH secretary Duque, the patient is being treated and isolated,” Panelo said, as he gave the assurance the DOH was undertaking every measure to contain the virus.
“We ask our countrymen to follow the advice of the DOH to observe personal hygiene as a preventive measure like regularly washing one’s hands and wearing surgical masks in going around crowded areas,” Panelo said.
