BORACAY – Authorities are closely monitoring two persons at the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital in Kalibo, Aklan for exhibiting “flu-like symptoms” amid growing fears from the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV).
The 23-year-old flight attendant who had a travel history to Wuhan City, China on Jan. 21 was isolated for developing cough after three days. The crew was quarantined in a private room since Jan. 30, authorities said.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old Chinese male tourist was also brought to the Aklan provincial hospital after experiencing “flu-like symptoms,” they added.
Dr. Cornelio Cuachon Jr. of the Provincial Health Office in Aklan (PHO-Aklan) said seaports and airports in the province were on heightened alert against the nCoV.
Cuachon said PHO-Aklan is closely coordinating with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Bureau of Quarantine to monitor travelers from other countries.
Kalibo airport manager Engr. Eusebio Monserate Jr. said passengers flying to and from Shanghai, Tianjin, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Peking, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Changsha, and Wuhan in China on Feb. 1 were affected by the indefinite cancellation of flights.
“Magiging drastic ang pagbaba ng numero ng flights at arrivals ng visitors natin in Kalibo airport. Lahat ng flights to China are suspended until further notice,” he added.
Monserate said the cancellation of around 20 commercial flights was a precautionary measure to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed hundreds of people in mainland China.
Last Jan. 28, three foreigners were discharged from the Aklan provincial hospital after the results of their tests for 2019 nCoV came out negative.
Meanwhile, a flight attendant from Palawan with travel history in Taiwan and Shanghai, China, denied she was quarantined in the Aklan provincial hospital, saying she was in the hospital to get her medical clearance on Jan. 31.
On the otherhand, 11 Chinese tourists under medical observation in Kalibo, Aklan have returned to China on Jan. 31.
They boarded China Eastern Airlines around 2:40 p.m. at the Kalibo International Airport on a four-hour flight to Chengdu, China.
Cuachon said the tourists were fit to travel after they secured medical clearances from the attending doctors.
“They had no flu-like symptoms and they will be closely monitored also in China,” he added.
The foreigners, who were spending their vacation in Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan were tracked down by health authorities.
Four of them had close contacts with a “coronavirus patient” in Hong Kong.(With a report from Akean Forum/PN)
