Cebu Pacific to pull out planes boarded by 2019-nCoV positive patient

CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Pacific has started identifying and contacting the passengers seated nearby the 38-year-old Chinese woman who tested positive of the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV-ARD).

Cebu Pacific, the country’s largest budget airline, also said they would be pulling out of the line and disinfecting the planes boarded by the patient, based on the recent statement they issued Friday, January 31.

They also said cabin crews and pilots showed no symptoms of the disease.

The Gokongwei-led airline company will also be implementing the following several precautionary measures in all their international and domestic flights:

1.Cleaning and disinfection of aircraft in between flights.

2. Wearing of face masks by our employees, frontline personnel and cabin crew while on duty.

3. Providing face masks to passengers who show symptoms of illness. When possible, isolation of passengers who manifest symptoms of illness in empty rows inside the aircraft during the flight.

4. Coordination with health authorities in case there are passengers suspected of n-CoV contamination for immediate turn-over and further observation.

Cebu Pacific has also expressed intentions to reduce the flights to China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

“Passengers who wish to check the status of their flights may do so through the Manage Booking portal on the Cebu Pacific website, https://book.cebupacificair.com/Manage/Retrieve/,” the statement said.

The patient, now confined in San Lazaro Hospital in Metro Manila, came from Wuhan City. She arrived in the country on January 21, boarding a Cebu Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Mactan, Cebu.

The Department of Health (DOH) also confirmed that she, and her boyfriend, boarded another Cebu Pacific flight to Dumaguete City from Cebu. /dbs

READ MORE: Wuhan woman only stayed three hours at Cebu airport — Bernadas