Lawmaker wants travel from China to Bohol stopped due to 2019-nCoV
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol –– Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado of Bohol’s second district has filed a resolution on Monday to impose an immediate travel moratorium on flights from China to Bohol due to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
In House Resolution No. 669, Aumentado said: “coronaviruses are a large family of viruses ranging from the common colds to more serious respiratory infections and there are no vaccines or antiviral drugs that are approved for prevention.”
“The Philippines maintains flights between Panglao International Airport in Panglao, Bohol, and China, particularly flights from Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chengdu, and Wuhan, which caters to thousands of incoming tourists,” he said.
To curb the risk of spreading the virus in Bohol and other parts of the country, Aumentado said an immediate travel moratorium must be imposed to stop direct flights from China to the Bohol-Panglao International Airport (BPIA).
Aumentado quoted China’s health minister Ma Xiaowei who made a statement about the Wuhan coronavirus that people can spread before they become symptomatic.
“It’s much harder to contain a virus — to track down a patient’s contacts and quarantine them immediately — if the patient was spreading the disease for days or weeks before they even realized they had it,” Aumentado told the Inquirer.
Article continues after this advertisementThe BPIA is still on heightened alert to prevent the entry of the coronavirus to Bohol.
Article continues after this advertisementOnly a couple arrived at the BPIA on Monday, January 27.
They arrived at 7:50 a.m. on board Pan Pacific Airlines from Chengdu City, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province.
The couple passed through the thermal scanner and tested negative of fever.
Some Bohol residents echoed calls to cancel flights from China to Bohol after two Chinese nationals, aged 2 and 36, were placed under observation in Bohol after showing symptoms of the coronavirus.
In a Facebook post, Joy Bonita Sevilla, a resident of Tagbilaran City, said the lives of the people are more important than tourism.
She used the hashtags #NoentrytoChinesetourist #protectBohol.
“It’s easy for us to say ‘be calm and take it easy’ with regards to this deadly coronavirus. I agree that all Chinese tourists must be put on hold as to their entry to our province. Prevention is better than cure,” Sevilla said.
Another resident, Dexter Muneses Ancla, also wanted to block Chinese tourists from entering the province until the coronavirus is contained.
He said the Philippines is not equipped with technologies and personnel to stop the new health scourge.
“What will tourism do if it kills our friends and family? Which is more devastating: a lost income from tourism or the death of a friend or a family member?,” Ancla asked./lzb
