ILOILO City – The local government of Malay, Aklan went on damage control mode a day after its Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief claimed the municipality was struggling to monitor some 2,000 mostly Chinese tourists in Boracay Island for possible novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection.
Boracay, a world-famous island resort attracting thousands of tourists each year, is Malay’s biggest generator of revenues.
“No virus in paradise: Boracay Island is safe and free from 2019-nCoV”, blared its statement issued yesterday.
In a separate bulletin, the Malay local government also clarified it has 429 – not 2,000 – “persons under monitoring” (PUMs) in Boracay.
PUMs are individuals with a history of travel to China or history of contact with a known confirmed nCoV case but do not manifest signs and symptoms.
The nCoV originated from Wuhan City, China. It causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.
On Tuesday, Malay’s Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Catherine Fulgencio said her local government unit (LGU) was having a hard time monitoring 2,000 mostly Chinese tourists in Boracay and thus appealed for help from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
“The reported 2,000 Chinese…are actually the number of (tourist) arrivals reported by the Municipal Tourism Office from the period of Jan. 25 to Feb. 3, 2020,” clarified the bulletin.
Since most of them already left the country, the municipality is left with 429 persons to be monitored, it stressed.
“The municipality of Malay assures the public that the Malay Inter-Agency Task Force Against the 2019 Novel Coronavirus and the Municipal Health Office are on high alert since Day 1 and is closely monitoring all ‘persons under monitoring’ (PUMs) within our municipality as per Department of Health (DOH) guidelines,” stressed the local government.
This statement was contrary to the picture painted by its Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief – a local government overwhelmed by the task of monitoring PUMs due to logistical challenges.
Fulgencio could not be reached for comment anymore yesterday.
“We would like to reiterate that there is no confirmed case of 2019-nCoV as well as persons under investigation (PUI) both in mainland Malay and Boracay Island,” the Malay LGU further stressed.
It also listed the following interventions undertaken:
* education and information campaign to all sectors (e.g., barangay, school, private sectors: hotels and resorts, associations, and cooperatives) regarding 2019-nCoV, preventive measures, and inter-government protocols
* creation of the Inter-Agency Task Force Against the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
* creation and mobilization of Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams
* formulation of Standard Operating Procedures for PUMs in the barangays
* appropriation of budget for the programs/activities of the task force
* constant monitoring of the socioeconomic impact of 2019-nCoV
On Tuesday, Fulgencio said the Municipal Health Office of Malay was having a hard time monitoring PUMs because they were billeted in various tourism accommodation establishments. It would be better if these establishments have safety officers or medical teams regularly reporting to us the health status of the PUMs, if these tourists manifest flu-like symptoms, she said.
Addressing this concern, DOH Region 6 director Marlyn Convocar said the local government of Malay could tap the 168 “human resources for health” personnel that the regional health office assigned to Aklan; 78 of them were nurses.
Fulgencio lamented, too, that some of the tourism accommodation establishments were reluctant to cooperate with Malay health authorities.
“Probably indi pa gid clear sa ila kon ano ang role nila when it comes to nCoV monitoring,” she said.
Meanwhile, Peter Tay, liaison officer to Boracay of the Chinese Embassy, expressed fear that the travel ban ordered by the national government could hurt “deeper” into the tourism businesses and travel spending of the visitors in Boracay.
“This is worse than Boracay’s closure; we don’t know when the situation is going to end,” Tay said on Feb. 3.
Boracay was closed for a massive environmental rehabilitation from April to October 2018.
On Feb.2 President Rodrigo Duterte restricted the inbound travel of foreigners from China and its administrative regions to the country due to the nCoV scare.
Boracay – which saw 434,175 Chinese tourists or 50 percent of the 865,419 foreigners last year – is usually packed with inbound travelers during the peak months of January to May.
Acting Malay mayor Frolibar Bautista said all sectors will likely feel the impact of the temporary travel ban.
“Malaki ang apekto sa transport, hotels, resorts, lahat ng activities sa Boracay dahil sa temporary ban sa mga Chinese tourists. Hindi naman natin ma-compromised ang health at safety ng ating mga residente at ibang turista,” he added./PN
Wherever there are Chinese tourists….there is danger.
Over 500 dead already in China.
Wake up people. It is a risk we cannot afford to take. Lose your crab mentality and stop thinking only about yourselves.
You cannot trade a loss of income for the health of the entire nation.
Chinese from china and other parts of the world should be banned… they bring disaster to any place they go.