Novel coronavirus scare drifts toward Mindanao

DAVAO CITY—-A day after the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the  first case of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection in the Philippines on Thursday (Jan. 30) and hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a global health emergency, a climate of fear gripped Mindanao.

This could be among the reasons for a frenzy of facial mask-buying that sent supplies vanishing within hours.

The sense of fear, however, is more pronounced in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte where the local government decided to expand the ban on entry of foreigners to include everyone who are coming from countries with known cases of nCoV infection.

A day earlier, the ban covered only Chinese and other Asian tourists.

In a January 30 order issued by Mayor Al David Uy, the local government banned the entry of “group tours” carrying foreign tourists from countries with cases of nCoV.

As of Friday, the United States Center for Disaster Control and Prevention listed 22 countries and territories with confirmed cases of nCoV.

Aside from the Philippines, these are China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Republic of Korea, United Arab Emirates, United States and Vietnam.

Uy’s order directed police and military to conduct patrols, inspect all vehicles coming in and bar the entry of everyone who had come from countries with nCoV infections.

The mayor also ordered the Coast Guard to prevent anyone from the infected countries or places from entering Samal through the Sasa and Santa Ana wharves in Davao City by crossing the narrow channel to Samal, which is just 10 minutes by ferry from Davao City.

Samal’s beaches draw up to a million tourists a year.

Uy asked the City Investment and Tourism Office to spread information about the ban and monitor compliance by boat operators and resort owners.

Aracelli Ayuste, president of the Samal Tourism Council, expressed concern over the impact of the ban on revenue of resorts and other tourism-oriented businesses in Samal.

On Thursday, Michael Anthony Homez, Samal public information officer, told the Inquirer that the order from Uy came after he was alarmed by the entry into Davao City of 79 Chinese nationals aboard a Xiamen Air flight from China’s Jinjiang City.

Jinjiang is 900 km from Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province now considered as epicenter of nCoV.

Homez said the mayor feared that some or all of the newly-arrived Chinese may find their way into Samal.

On Friday, face masks vanished from stores in the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Pagadian, General Santos, Koronadal, Kidapawan and Iligan largely because of panic-buying since Thursday, when the DOH confirmed the Philippines’ first nCoV case.

The supply of masks in the cities had already been gobbled up by people who wanted to send them to relatives in Metro Manila following ash fall from Taal Volcano.

In Cagayan de Oro, a pharmacy employee said the facial masks were quickly bought out after the DOH announced the first nCoV case with some people buying the masks by boxes.

Cagayan de Oro Councilor George Goking suggested that pharmacies limit each buyer to only one mask for even distribution.

As true in the law of supply and demand, the fewer masks, the higher their prices went.

In Koronadal, the three-ply disposable ear-loop type mask has been  selling from P15 to P20 apiece, from just P2 prior to the nCoV scare.

The LTFRB in northern Mindanao distributed surgical masks at bus terminals in the cities of Gingoog, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan starting on Wednesday (Jan. 29), but this did not prevent prices from rising.

Dima-arig Diamla , LTFRB-Iligan officer-in-charge, said at least 5,000 surgical masks had been given to passengers, drivers and conductors of buses and jeepneys.

Dr. Rogelio Aturdido, South Cotabato health officer, urged the public to avoid shaking hands or greeting each other by beso-beso (touching the cheeks) in the meantime in the wake of the nCoV threat.

In General Santos, Dr. Rochelle Oco, acting city health officer, urged residents not to panic or be afraid since the city remains free from nCoV.

According to Oco, airport and quarantine workers are strictly monitoring passengers arriving in the city.

Oco said the city formed a task force on nCoV following the DOH confirmation. Reports from Ryan Rosauro, Orlando Dinoy, Bong Sarmiento, Leah Agonoy, Divina Suson, Jigger Jerusalem, Pam Orias and Williamor Magbanua

Edited by TSB