LAST WEEK, why were we still allowing flights from Wuhan City, China to land in the Philippines – specifically in Aklan province?
Why did we have to wait for China’s announcement of lockdown in Wuhan City before deciding to prohibit entry of flights coming from a place already confirmed to be the epicenter of the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has turned epidemic?
Good thing we have sent those Boracay-bound Chinese tourists back to Wuhan. And that is not even a decision reached by our authorities, but the airlines?
It is the lives and health of the Filipino people that are at stake here. We implore our authorities to be more proactive, aggressive and swift in situations like this.
Now, please don’t look at Wuhan City only. The Chinese government itself has restricted travels not only to and from Wuhan but other Chinese cities and provinces as well. When circumstances already warrant, we need not wait for another announcement of lockdown before considering bans of flights from these places.
We were able to keep the SARS virus out many years ago. However, we now have more visitors from China and other East Asian countries. We also have many Chinese working in online gambling here. Public health and safety dictate the country must be protected with very strict implementation of inviolable protocols.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the various airport agencies, and the Department of Health must not leave anything to chance. Leave no stone unturned, lest we regret.
Only recently, African swine flu infected our country’s meat supply when infected pork products managed to slip through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Let that experience be our lesson. We have to, at the onset, address every way this novel coronavirus could get into our country.
