MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City local government on Saturday urged its employees to take precautionary measures to prevent being infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019 nCoV ARD).
One of these measures includes the practice of self-quarantine for 10 days if an employee returned from a country with a confirmed case of the virus.
According to a memorandum issued by the Quezon City Human Resource Department issued Jan. 28, local government employees were advised to take measures such as hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and the wearing of face masks when one has a cold or cough.
Quezon City employees must also ensure that the food they eat are prepared “according to hygienic standards and adequately cooked,” especially meat and fish, the memorandum further read.
The new virus caused a global scare, as it has already claimed the lives of 259 people in China, as well as infecting 11,800 others.
The Philippines confirmed its first case on Thursday, involving a 38-year-old Chinese tourist from Wuhan, China—which is considered ground zero of the outbreak.
Aside from the memorandum, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte also ordered that hand sanitizers be placed in different parts of the city hall building.
“We want our employees to undertake the necessary steps to protect their health amid the reported entry of the coronavirus into the country,” Belmonte said in a statement.
“Ginagawa rin natin ito upang hindi makompromiso ang kalusugan ng taumbayan na ating pinaglilingkuran (We’re also doing this so we would not compromise everyone’s health, whom we serve),” she added.