Airlines alerted amid new coronavirus case in PH – Bureau of Quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — Airlines have been reminded to implement health safety procedures after a five-year-old boy from Wuhan, China tested positive for an unknown coronavirus strain, the director of Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) said Tuesday.

“We have scheduled meetings with airlines. We are reminding the airlines and other partners that a universal protective kit should be available anytime onboard,” BOQ chief Ferdinand Salcedo said in a press conference at the Department of Health on the coronavirus case.

Salcedo also emphasized that airline passengers who are experiencing “light symptoms” such as cough must report to the Bureau of Quarantine on arrival at the airport.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo noted during the press conference that Chinese authorities are now conducting “exit screening” in airports to monitor passengers from Wuhan, who might be positive for the new coronavirus.

“China is now screening passengers from Wuhan. Before they leave Wuhan, they screen them. If anybody is ill, they don’t let them aboard the plane. Quarantine officers are working,” Domingo said.

In a report from Associated Press, health authorities in Wuhan, China, where the new virus seemed to have been originated, said there is already a total of 198 patients infected by the new coronavirus.

No need for travel ban in PH

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III meanwhile said there is no need for travel restrictions, noting that authorities just need to be on alert for those possibly infected by the new coronavirus.

“We don’t see that in the short term. There are still blind spots in so far as this particular coronavirus is concerned, we just have to be on alert and take all the recent information as they become,” Duque said when asked if the country needs to implement a travel ban amid the new case.

Duque also noted that Chinese officials will continue to provide DOH with information regarding updates on the new coronavirus.

Rabindra Abeyansinghe, country representative of World Health Organization, reminded Filipinos to practice good hygiene by washing hands frequently, use tissues and handkerchief amid the reports of the virus.