ASSISTANT Secretary Gerardo Bayugo said the Department of Health (DOH) has heightened their health screening efforts in all ports of entry following reports of the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) in South Korea with a death toll of seven.
Bayugo said all the DOH facilities have been prepared to take care and manage this kind of special infection as it enters the country.
“But first, we would like to prevent its entry so we have installed in the ports of entry thermal scanners to detect possible suspected carriers,” he said.
Before travelers go out of international ports, they are made to fill out forms or health checklists so they could be traced if they or their co-passengers manifest symptoms, Bayugo said.
Bayugo said they have also done this for Ebola and that all their hospitals, including the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital have been prepared to handle and manage these cases.
“In the event it happens, we have done the best that we can do to prepare our facilities. We cannot ban Koreans from coming here and not all of them are carriers,” he said.
Bayugo said he believes that Korea is doing something to prevent the spread of the disease internally and outwardly.
With the sudden spread of Mers-CoV in South Korea, Bayugo advised Koreans to avoid traveling to Korea for the meantime and make sure they follow the regulations of their country to prevent the spread of the disease.
There are about 1,200 Koreans in Bacolod.(CNC)