MANILA, Philippines — The U.S. Embassy in Manila has postponed visa appointments until further notice following the Philippine government’s imposition of a Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
“The Government of the Philippines has imposed a strict quarantine across Luzon and particularly Metro-Manila as a precautionary measure to limit the spread of COVID-19,” the embassy said in an advisory Wednesday.
“Due to these circumstances, all visa appointments have been postponed pending further notice; please do not attempt to travel to the Embassy,” it added.
U.S. EMBASSY IN THE PHILIPPINES UPDATE: The Government of the Philippines has imposed a strict quarantine across Luzon and particularly Metro Manila as a precautionary measure to limit the spread of COVID-19. https://t.co/YFlLucbsTB pic.twitter.com/h6GUpbQGcJ
— U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (@USEmbassyPH) March 18, 2020
The embassy advised visa applicants to monitor their email—specifically, the email address they provided at the time their respective appointment were made—for updates.
“Although we are operating at an extremely reduced staffing level due to the current conditions, the American Citizen Services Unit will address the needs of U.S. citizens as much as possible,” it noted.
The embassy added that non-essential services have been postponed pending further notice.
President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the Philippines under a state of calamity amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.
As of Tuesday, 187 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported, with 14 deaths.
The COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses, whose surfaces have a crown-like appearance.
Worldwide, over 168,000 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, with at least 6,506 fatalities.