In this Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, photo, workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant against the coronavirus in front of a church in Daegu, South Korea. The mayor of the South Korean city of Daegu urged its 2.5 million people on Thursday, Feb. 20, to refrain from going outside as cases of a new virus spike. | AP
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu Provincial Government has called a meeting on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, with the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) to discuss possible measures they will take on the increasing number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in South Korea.
“We are noting a deep concern in the spike of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, and the increased number of deaths. We have asked for a meeting with DOH-7 this afternoon to discuss the measures we will possibly take,” Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
The national government, through the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IAFT-EID), is now studying the possibility of expanding the travel ban on those from South Korea.
Travel restrictions are imposed on the whole of China, where the epicenter of the outbreak is located.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also issued a public advisory for Filipino travelers bound to South Korea to delay or postpone any non-urgent travel to the Korean country, a popular vacation site for Korean Pop (KPop) fans in the Philippines.
On February 24, 2020, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella proposed for travelers coming from South Korea arriving at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to be included in the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
South Koreans are the top market source of the tourism industry in Cebu for 2018.
However, tourism stakeholders are now bracing themselves for the possibility of extending travel restrictions to South Korea due to its sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.
As of February 26, South Korea reported 1,146 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 12 deaths. /bmjo