CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7) will let it be upon the health department to decide whether it is necessary to ban tourists from China amid the 2019 novel coronavirus alert.
DOT-7 Regional Director Shalimar Hofer Tamano, in an interview, said the call for the ban lies upon the discretion of the Department of Health (DOH) since the 2019-nCoV is a public health concern.
“We are closely monitoring with DOH and we encourage all the stakeholders to do the same. It would be difficult if everyone will issue an advisory,” Tamano said.
The DOT-7 will also be part of the multi-agency meeting that the Capitol will hold this Thursday, January 30, 2020.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the meeting on Thursday may set the direction on what the province will do as preventive measures in relation to the 2019-CoV.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, earlier called on the DOH to ban all direct flights from the neighboring cities of Wuhan, China arriving in the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
MCIA currently has 36 direct flights to China every week.
These flights are bound for Guangzhou, Xiamen, Jinjiang, Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenzhen Nanjing, and Hangzhou.
At this time, Tamano said they cannot yet ascertain on how the health situation will affect the tourism sector. /bmjo