ILOILO – The provincial government ordered the monitoring of persons with travel history in South Korea following the surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the East Asian country.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. issued Executive Order 28-A to further strengthen quarantine procedures and other prevention and control measures against COVID-19.
The governor ordered that “persons in the province of Iloilo travelling from South Korea shall be assessed pursuant to the COVID-19 Decision Tool.”
They may be classified as persons under monitoring (PUMs) or persons under investigation (PUIs) and may be quarantined.
Defensor said there is a need to immediately act on the matter following the radical spread of the virus in South Korea which is similar to the situation in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
South Korea has reported more than 800 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total infections to 3,150, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Saturday. This is the largest outbreak outside of China.
The country first said there were 594 new cases but later reported that an additional 219 new cases had been confirmed.
Together they logged a record daily increase in infections since South Korea confirmed its first patient on Jan. 20. Another person is confirmed to have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 17.
“The situation in South Korea places it on the same category as China (inclusive Hong Kong and Macau), and therefore demands similar treatment of persons traveling therefrom…” Defensor said.
The city and provincial government recently jointly agreed to cancel the religious gathering “RUN for Jesus” in La Paz district scheduled on Feb. 27 where South Korean delegates were supposed to participate.
Since Feb. 26, the Philippine government has been implementing travel restrictions for passengers from North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, including Daegu City and Cheongdo County, and also banned Filipino tourists from traveling to any part of South Korea, including Jeju Island. (Capitol News/PN)
