Travelers departing from the domestic terminal in MCIA T1 on February 6, 2020. | CDN FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia requested incoming travelers from Metro Manila to undergo self-quarantine if it means curbing transmission of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Garcia made this pronouncement during a press conference on Friday, March 13, 2020 – a few hours after the Malacañang announced that a community quarantine will take effect in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“Self-quarantine, after all, is not that difficult. So we asked those that have just arrived from Manila to please put yourselves in self-quarantine,” said Garcia.
“I do know that some Cebuanos who have responsibly now put themselves in self-isolation, and we hope that this should be the norm of those that have just recently arrive from Metro Manila,” she added.
Garcia likewise addressed the same suggestion to Cebuanos who showed signs and symptoms of COVID-19, and are suspected to have the disease.
“If you do experience, any of the symptoms, fever, coughing, shortness of breath, colds please as a responsible Cebauno report and bring yourself immediately to the appropriate medical authorities, to the hospital,” she said.
Meeting
The Capitol will be meeting airport officials, executives from airline operators, and relevant government agencies such as the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Labor and Employment, pharmaceutical suppliers, and hotel and resort owners Friday afternoon, March 13, 2020.
Presently, there is no mandatory quarantine being imposed for travelers arriving at MCIA from domestic destinations such as Manila.
However, Filipino passengers arriving from mainland China, several portions of South Korea, Italy, and Iran, both through direct and connecting flights, are mandated to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
According to Garcia, they will be discussing possible measures to mitigate the impact of the community quarantine about to be imposed in NCR.
The governor said one of the topics they will be discussing is the possibility of flights being diverted from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
Manila is the most popular domestic destination served at MCIA, with over 1,000 flights per month.
“This is why we have to discuss this thoroughly and carefully,” Garcia said.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday imposed a 30-day lockdown on Metro Manila, prohibiting travel to and from the national capital up to April 14, extending the suspension of classes in the metropolis until April 12, and banning “planned or spontaneous” mass gatherings after the Department of Health confirmed 52 cases and five deaths from the pneumonia-like disease COVID-19./ – with reports from JULIE M. AURELIO OF PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER /rcg