Virus watch: Checkpoints set up in Tinglayan town in Kalinga to ban tourists

MANILA, Philippines — Kalinga’s Tinglayan town Mayor Sacrament Gumilab has directed the establishment of checkpoints to ban all tourists from entering the municipality in a bid to contain the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

In Executive Order No. 04 dated February 3, Gumilab ordered “deputizing the Tinglayan Municipal Police Personnel and all the Barangay Officials and Tanods of the Municipality to establish their respective checkpoints especially Barangay Buscalan, Tinglayan to ban all tourists from entering the municipality.”

Apart from temporarily suspending the town’s tourism activities, Gumilab also formed a task force to address and combat the deadly virus.

Gumilab instructed the task force to conduct information drive on 2019-nCoV prevention and ensure the use of standard treatment protocols for the disease.

The municipality of Atok has also suspended all tourism-related activities as a precautionary measure against the spread of 2019-nCov, which originated in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in China.

To date, the novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 560 people and infected over 20,000 in China.

In the Philippines, three 2019-nCov cases – all Chinese – have already been confirmed by the health department. One of the three infected individuals died February 1 due to severe pneumonia. The novel coronavirus attacks the respiratory system and could cause acute respiratory disease.

Edited by KGA