Dumaguete City (CNN Philippines February 1) – All tourists from China, including Hong Kong, will be placed under quarantine for 14 days once they set foot in Negros Oriental, the governor of the province said Friday.
Negros Oriental Roel Ragay Degamo made the order through Executive Order No. 4 after meeting with provincial heath officials on Friday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III previously said the symptoms of the new coronavirus infection, now named as 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease, or 2019-nCoV ARD, may begin to show ten days to two weeks after exposure to the virus.
The order comes a day after the Philippines reported its first case from the 2019-nCoV in the country, a 38-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, China, who visited a resort and two hotels in Dumaguete City with a partner last week, according to the Department of Health.
The provincial health office of Negros Oriental has started tracing persons who might have come into contact directly with the Chinese national who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
In a press conference on Friday, the local health officials said they had gone to the two hotels and a resort, which were identified as the places visited by the Chinese guests. The hotel and resort owners were advised to disinfect their establishments.
Negros Oriental Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion said they also identified the hotel personnel who have may have come into contact with the guest and were advised to do a “self-quarantine.”
To prevent the new viral illness from spreading in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte issued an order to temporarily stop the entry of all nationals from Hubei province — where Wuhan, the ground zero of the disease’s outbreak, is located.
