Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Gov. Roel Degamo on Friday afternoon issued an executive order placing all foreigners and other individuals coming from China under quarantine for 14 days as part of the province’s measures to prevent the entry of the novel coronavirus.
Degamo signed Executive Order No. 4 Series of 2020 following a press briefing with the media and consultation with Capitol’s legal minds, select officials and health authorities in the province.
The order came after the Department of Health confirmed that the first case of the nCoV-2019 in the Philippines is a 38-year-old woman from Wuhan, China, who visited Dumaguete City and other parts of Negros Oriental recently.
Foreigners and other individuals coming to the province from China and Hong Kong “shall be subjected to, or has to undergo quarantine for 14 days in accordance with the rules and protocols established by the Department of Health (DOH) for that purpose.”
In the same order, the governor also directed the Department of Trade and Industry to determine whether there is hoarding or overpricing of face/surgical masks.
People have been scrambling for days now to acquire face/surgical masks as well as the N95 respirator masks but these have already run out here and in nearby towns.
Meanwhile, an Incident Command System, headed by Dr. Liland Estacion, Assistant Provincial Health Officer, has been created “to ensure the safety of all responders, address all concerns, and coordinate with the Department of Health and other government agencies for inter-agency cooperation.”
On the other hand, official statements regarding incidents in relation to the 2019-nCoV shall be coursed through Capitol Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor.
The executive order came after members of the press pointed out public clamor on the apparent “slow response” of the provincial government, as well as not being able to give clear and/or complete information to the public at the earliest time possible.
Social media posts were circulating with many unverified and even fake information, making things more confusing to the public.
Degamo told the members of the media that they were careful in coming up with a statement late Thursday even after Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed that the Chinese woman who has been tested positive for 2019-nCoV went to Dumaguete and Negros Oriental.
Estacion said they immediately set off to work upon learning of the news, doing their own contact-tracing at the places where the nCoV patient and her boyfriend visited while here from Jan. 22 to 25. (PNA)
