Italy and Iran are the latest countries included in the mandatory 14-day quarantine being implemented by the Cebu Provincial Government following the surges of cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said this is her additional measures against COVID-19 for the province.
In a press conference in Cebu City on Monday afternoon, Garcia emphasized that those who will be subjected to the quarantine are those with travel histories from the said countries within 15 days prior to their arrival in Cebu regardless of their nationality.
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The Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) is tasked to check the passports of the travelers to check if they had a travel history to such countries.
The passenger, however, is given two options: to undergo quarantine or to take a flight back to their country of origin.
“I wish I could ban but we cannot. It’s really difficult… What we can do is to step up our own measures,” she told reporters.
Garcia will implement this starting on March 11.
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Once implemented, these will be disseminated to the airlines. It will be the airlines who will inform the passengers prior to boarding on their country of origin.
Garcia emphasized that quarantine measures are a reiteration of the earlier protocols that the province has put in place since the outbreak of COVID-19.
As far as reported local transmissions reported in the Luzon area, Garcia said the Department of Health (DOH) has not clearly defined yet the situation as they are still conducting contact tracing.
