TOURIST FAVORITE Strawberries grown in farms in La Trinidad town in Benguet province are among the popular “pasalubong” (gift) that tourists buy whenever they visit Baguio City. The local government of La Trinidad has decided to cancel this year’s Strawberry Festival, which highlights the town’s most popular product, as a measure to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. —EV ESPIRITU
Local government units (LGUs) around the country continue to cancel cultural events and festivals that draw tourists as officials try to contain the spread of a new coronavirus that had infected thousands in China, where the disease was first detected in December.
In Benguet province, La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda on Tuesday said his town will not hold the Strawberry Festival scheduled next month.
Three persons, who are on the list of seven patients under investigation (PUI) for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Cordillera region, come from Benguet, according to the Department of Health (DOH) during a briefing on Tuesday.
The DOH said moving Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival) and other activities meant for February to the last weeks of March can bring “some sense of normalcy” to Baguio, which many mistakenly believe has been on lockdown.
That period in March should be warmer compared to the colder days of February, said Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, DOH Cordillera director.
The Panagbenga parades have been moved to March 28 and 29 while the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association meet has been resche¬duled to March 24.
Pangilinan said the Cordillera had yet to record any nCoV-infected patients after four PUIs under quarantine since late January had tested negative for the virus.
Kalinga and Apayao provinces are proceeding with their respective 25th foundation day programs on Feb. 14 without fanfare.
Kalinga Gov. Ferdinand Tubban postponed the 4th Bodong Festival, which accompanies the foundation day celebrations.
The homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City was moved to Feb. 22.
Mindanao eventsIn Mindanao, at least two major athletic meets and a major crowd-drawing festival in Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and Gene¬ral Santos) region have been put on hold in an attempt to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
In Zamboanga City, city officials toned down the Dia de Zamboanga on Feb. 26 by canceling the events that would draw huge crowds, said Christian Olasiman, head of the city’s special events team.
Olasiman said the city canceled the interschool drum and lyre competition on Feb. 21 and the grand civic-military parade and field demonstration on Feb. 26.
The events canceled in Ge¬neral Santos City included the Soccsksargen Regional Athletic Association meet on Feb. 19-23; the launching of the Sulong Edukalidad in time for the opening of the athletic meet on Feb. 19; and the holding of the Kalilangan Festival on Feb. 22-27.
General Santos Mayor Ronnel Rivera said the Kalilangan Festival, a celebration of the arrival of settlers in the city 81 years ago, would no longer push through, except for a wreath la¬ying ceremony at the monument of Gen. Paulino Santos.
“Despite these cancellations, we want to assure everyone that the city remains free of the threat of the 2019-nCoV,” Rivera said.
Ten people are under monitoring for nCoV in Soccsksargen, including four Chinese tourists now quarantined in a drug rehabilitation facility in Alabel, Sarangani.
In Kidapawan City, 12 people were being monitored because of their recent travel to nCoV-affected countries.
Capas monitoringIn Tarlac province, all of the 32 Filipinos repatriated from Wuhan City in China showed no signs of infection on the third day of their 14-day quarantine at the Athletes’ Village inside the New Clark City in Capas town.
Dr. Jess Fantone, chief of the DOH Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit in Central Luzon, said they remained “asymptomatic,” meaning none of them displayed symptoms suggesting illness.
In the Visayas, the DOH has cleared three persons who were placed under quarantine for possible nCoV infection.
A dormitory resident at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, who was on the same flight with the first two confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV, tested negative for the virus.
The student, tagged as a PUI, was cleared on Friday after being examined and placed in isolation in a dormitory within the campus premises.
Two Americans, who came from China and traveled to Palawan province before they visited Bohol, were cleared on Monday morning.
Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, spokesperson for the Bohol nCoV Technical Working Group, said six people — three nurses, two crew members and a passenger of a fast craft — were put in isolation in Bohol.
All of them had contact with the 60-year-old Chinese woman identified as the third case of nCoV in the country.
“They are recuperating,” Lopez said.—Reports from Vincent Cabreza, Karlston Lapniten, Maria Adelaida Calayag, Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Irma Faith Pal, Leo Udtohan, Bong Sarmiento, Rommel Rebollido, Williamor Magbanua and Julie Alipala