BACOLOD City – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is strictly monitoring all vessels originating from China and docking in the province as part of the precautions against the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV).
PCG-Negros Occidental chief Lieutenant Commander Jansen Benjamin said before a foreign vessel will be allowed to dock in any part of the province, they will first be redirected to the port’s anchorage area and await a boarding team from the PCG and an officer from the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).
According to Benjamin, even before the nCoV issue, the PCG has been actively implementing these quarantine safety and security Inspections on all foreign vessels.
Once the quarantine officials do not find any health issues among the crew and the vessel itself, they will issue an advisory allowing the vessel to dock.
Benjamin, however, pointed out that they have implemented stricter monitoring of foreign vessels, especially those originating from China.
The local PCG commander also confirmed that a vessel originating from China is scheduled to arrive today in San Carlos City. Benjamin said the vessel’s crew have already coordinated with the BOQ and they will be directed to the anchorage area of the port first while awaiting an inspection.
“In the event that there is a suspected nCoV case in the vessel, there will be no disembarkation and the crew will immediately be placed on quarantine,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin added, if such an event occurs, they will immediately send a health official to the vessel in question to take a sample and forward it to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for confirmation.
Meanwhile, as for local vessels especially those operating passenger services, Benjamin said they are implementing information dissemination.
He adde d that PCG personnel in coordination with the Philippine Ports Authority are actively encouraging passengers to practice proper hygiene in order to combat the virus./PN
