THERE are no confirmed cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) in the province of Aklan including mainland town of Malay and Boracay Island.
This was confirmed by Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores during the February 6 joint meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) VI and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) VI at the Regional Development Council, Neda Region 6 Office, Fort San Pedro, Iloilo City.
“I would like to assure our local tourists that Boracay is safe. There’s no truth to the rumor going around here that there are already confirmed cases (nCov) in Boracay,” Miraflores said.
For Miraflores, the island paradise of Boracay is open for business.
“As mentioned and verified, no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Western Visayas, no confirmed cases in Aklan that includes the mainland of Malay Town and Boracay Island,” Miraflores told SunStar Philippines in an interview.
“All the passengers, Chinese and foreigners who have been to the island, almost all of them are already out of the country and there is no truth to the rumors that there is an additional Chinese foreigner that came to the island,”
Miraflores confirmed that there were 70 more Chinese nationals who came to the island two days ago.
“Not Aklan (airport), they may have entered through other international ports or they might have already been here before the banning of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte,” Miraflores said.
“So there are still some Chinese here that came before February 2 via other international ports, like Manila, Cebu or Davao,” Miraflores said.
Miraflores added that there are 400 Chinese tourists in Boracay Island being monitored, while others have already left the island.
“There being monitored, and they don’t have any signs of 2019-nCoV. Just like any other foreigner in the country, they are being monitored. The local government of Malay is monitoring them in their hotels just to make sure they will not show signs of symptoms of the virus. They will be all gone maybe before the end of the week,” Miraflores said.
Miraflores said their port of entry is Manila and Cebu and then visited Boracay as one of their destinations.
“If they are under monitoring, we still treat them as tourists, we should not stigmatize them because they are guests in our country,” Miraflores said.
On the resolution of banning Chinese nationals to enter Boracay Island, It is the prerogative of Malay town according to Miraflores.
“To them, if it could help in this situation that will be respected by the province, and then if they want the help of the province, the province will always assist them in monitoring this individual,”
For the economic impact of this nCov to the people of Aklan, Miraflores said there is a huge impact in the province.
“We barely have recovered from the closure, now these massive cancellations of foreign tourists and also local tourists,” Miraflores said.
The governor revealed that the affected people here are the businessmen who catered flights coming from direct from China.
“But we are hoping that the domestic market can compensate for the loss of our foreign guests in Boracay,” Miraflores said. (SunStar Philippines)