MANILA, Philippines —Manila Mayor Isko Moreno will undergo self-quarantine following his trip from the United Kingdom which has over 300 cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Moreno made the announcement during a meeting with Manila health officials, and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna on Wednesday evening.
“I will submit myself to self-quarantine. Para lang mapanatag kayo. I will stay in City Hall. I will do some test also,” Moreno, who was wearing a face mask, said.
The Manila mayor visited London to meet with the UK’s task force on the novel coronavirus.
Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Senator Win Gatchalian separately announced that they too will undergo self-quarantine after interacting with COVID-19 positive patients.
Those under self-quarantine are asked to sustain this for at least 14 days.
Philippine health officials have so far reported a total of 49 coronavirus infection in the country.
The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, and since then China has carried the strain of the outbreak, with a vast majority of the over 110,000 infections coming from mainland China.
More than 3,000 people have already died due to the virus in China, the majority the which were recorded in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The virus causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.