THE Provincial Government of Iloilo is implementing precautionary measures against the possible entry to the province of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from China that has spread to other parts of Asia and the United States.
On January 23, 2020, Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. issued Executive Order 028, "implementing strict quarantine procedures and other disease prevention and control measures to protect the Province of Iloilo from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and other similar strains."
The governor said that upon personal checkup at the Iloilo International Airport on Thursday, January 23, he learned that there are some holes in the quarantine measures that need to be plugged.
He then ordered the following:
* Inspection/clearing/checking of foreign vessels, including the crew for 2019-nCoV in their second or subsequent port of entry in the Province of Iloilo by the Bureau of Quarantine.
* Mandatory accomplishment of the passenger declaration and health declaration card of those entering the province both by domestic and international flights or vessels.
* Mobilization of the barangay volunteers such as the Barangay Health Workers, Barangay Nutrition Scholars, and Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPOs) to monitor and record returning residents and transient with travels from countries positive for 2019 nCoV, and similar strains.
* Monitoring and recording of guests from tourism accommodation establishments who have travel history from affected countries.
Defensor said there is a need to ramp up the precautionary measures as the coronavirus is a threat to the health security of the country and the Province of Iloilo.
"There is a need to protect the province from 2019-nCoV and similar strains, as may identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and/or the Department of Health (DOH), by the strict implementation of additional quarantine, and other disease prevention and control measures," he said.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases.
A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was identified as the causative virus for a deadly case of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China that has reportedly reached the United States of America, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and Singapore. (PR)