BACOLOD City – Classes in all public schools in Negros Oriental has been suspended for three days due to the threat of the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).
Gov. Roel Degamo issued an executive
order on Tueday, enforcing cancellation of classes for all preschool,
elementary, high school and tertiary levels in all public schools in the
province of Negros Oriental are suspended from Feb. 5 to 7.
“This is a precautionary measure to contain and mitigate the spread of the
dreaded disease, the novel coronavirus, that has claimed hundreds of lives in
China and has created havoc in various parts of the country,” Degamo said.
The first confirmed case in the country involves a 38-year-old female from
Wuhan, China who has been confined and isolated in San Lazaro Hospital in
Manila. Her boyfriend, a 44-year-old Chinese national, was the country’s first
fatality.
The couple traveled from China to Hong Kong, then to Cebu and Dumaguete and
then to Manila last January. Authorities are now tracing those who may have
come in contact with the couple while they were in Cebu and Dumaguete
City.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, however, “discouraged” schools from suspending classes over fears that students may contract the novel coronavirus in learning facilities.
The Department of Health recommended the decision to avoid suspending classes amid the virus outbreak, Briones told senators during a Senate inquiry.
“We have discouraged them from suspending classes because it will not prevent our learners from going to crowded places,” Briones said.
Students who are already overseas before the ban are advised “to stay put” for the meantime and “comply” with health protocols once they return to the Philippines, she said.
The DOH has yet to recommend suspending graduation ceremonies either, Health Sec. Francisco Duque III said.
The communicable virus, which originated from Wuhan, China, has killed some nearly 400 people and infected about 20,000 others worldwide.
As of Tuesday afternoon, health officials in the Philippines are monitoring at least 105 suspected carriers of the disease. The Philippines has banned travel to and from China earlier this week, after it registered the first novel coronavirus-related death outside China. (With ABS-CBN News/PN)
