SEVEN KOREAN tourists who are considered persons under monitoring (PUMs) for COVID-19 have been declared “missing” by the provincial interagency task force after they were not found at the hotels they indicated in their health declaration cards upon arrival at the Mactan Cebu International Airport. They were among the 26 South Koreans who arrived from Daegu City in North Gyeongsang on February 25, a day before the government declared the official travel ban from the area. The 19 other tourists who were in the same flight are now under quarantine in their respective hotel rooms. In a press conference Saturday, members of the provincial task force on COVID-19 said they are now coordinating with the Korean Consulate and the Philippine National Police to locate the seven, composed of four males and three females, who need to be placed under a 14-day mandatory quarantine. “We have their identities, the airport authorities have the telephone numbers and the DoH (Department of Health) is also coordinating with the Vice Consul of Korea in order to locate the seven,” Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia said. “They should be located… so that if they will have symptoms, we could immediately send them to the hospitals and we could also identify where they have been going,” said DoH-Central Visayas Director Jaime S. Bernadas. The task force also announced that there will be stricter implementation of Provincial Ordinance No. 2020-02, which penalizes false information on health declaration cards. Violators will be fined P5,000 or one year imprisonment.

DIPOLOG CITY
In Dipolog, capital of Zamboanga del Norte, the City Health Office (CHO) said the 15 locals who recently returned after a few days in Seoul, South Korea have been checked and showed “negative signs nor symptons” of the coronavirus disease. “This statement is being issued to assure the public that Dipolog City is safe from COVID-19 and that measures are in place following established protocols issued by the Department of Health, other government agencies and concerned authorities. This is in light of messages/posts circulating on social media claiming otherwise,” Mayor Darel Dexter T. Uy said on Saturday. The 15 travelers, eight of whom are school teachers, visited Seoul from February 22 — 25, and returned to the Philippines on the 26th via the Mactan Cebu International Airport. Mr. Uy said although Seoul is not included in the latest travel restriction, the eight school teachers will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine as prescribed under a series of Department of Education (DepEd) directives. Under the DepEd directive, “All personnel and learners who decide to proceed with their personal travels for the month of February to countries identified to have confirmed cases of COVID-19 shall be subject to mandatory self-quarantine for 14 days from the date of arrival in the Philippines.” — The Freeman and BW Mindanao Bureau

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