The Bureau of Immigration today has ordered a temporary suspension of visas-upon-arrival for Chinese nationals as the country investigates 11 suspected cases of the deadly Chinese coronavirus.
The preventative measure comes as infections and fatalities continue to skyrocket in China, and the first case was reported in Cambodia.
“The Civil Aeronautics Board has already suspended direct flights from Wuhan province,” bureau Commissioner Jaime Morente said in today’s statement, adding that the visa program was suspended “to slow down the influx of group tours.”
Morente said there was no directive ordering the barring of Chinese nationals in the country and that the “proactive measure” was only meant to slow travel “and possibly help prevent the entry” of the virus.
He added that it’s up to the Bureau of Quarantine to conduct safety measures for arriving passengers and possible carriers. The immigration bureau hasn’t specified when the suspension would be lifted.
Read: PH authorities suspend all flights from Wuhan, ground zero of mysterious coronavirus
Although the Philippines have been spared so far, it remains vigilant and on Sunday repatriated the last of more than 600 Chinese tourists back to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and canceled all direct flights coming from the city.
Several Metro Manila schools have suspended classes; upward of 50 Filipinos living in Wuhan have said they want to return home.
That’s where most of the more than 4,000 cases in China have now been confirmed. Chinese authorities have attempted to seal off Wuhan and about 10 other Chinese cities in a bid to contain the virus, locking down more than 50 million people.
However, 5 million had already fled Wuhan before the quasi-quarantine was put in place, city mayor Zhou Xianwang told reporters Sunday. Zhou also confessed to withholding information about the outbreak.
The novel coronavirus has now killed 106 people in China and spread to at least 13 other countries – the first case in Cambodia was confirmed last night – a Chinese man from Wuhan who had visited Sihanoukville earlier this month.
Several nations including France, Thailand, and Australia said they would evacuate their citizens from the sequestered city of Wuhan.
China has attempted to seal off Wuhan and around 10 other Chinese cities in a bid to contain the virus, locking down more than 50 million people. However, 5 million had already fled Wuhan before the quasi-quarantine was put in place, city mayor Zhou Xianwang told reporters Sunday. Zhou also confessed to withholding information about the outbreak.
China was also rushing to build a hospital in Wuhan to treat coronavirus patients and is expected to complete it this week.
The SARS-like virus, also known as 2019-nCoV, is a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it also comes from animals, and is believed to have emerged from a now-shuttered market that sold exotic wildlife such as bats. China has temporarily suspended all wildlife trade.
The head of the World Health Organization was in Beijing today to discuss the outbreak, days after he said the Wuhan pneumonia virus did not yet constitute a global health emergency due to the limited number of cases abroad.
Canada, Germany, and France are among countries outside of China with confirmed cases. In other parts of Asia, new cases have been confirmed in Cambodia and Sri Lanka, while Hong Kong now matches Thailand with the most number of confirmed cases – eight.
Read: Update: 3 Boracay-bound Chinese undergo tests to prevent spread of deadly coronavirus
Singapore on Monday confirmed its fifth case of the disease and is preparing for more. Students there are to be given one day’s eviction notice before their dorms are converted into quarantine centers. Any teachers or students returning from China will have to take mandatory leaves of absence for two weeks as a precautionary measure.
The Singaporean government was holding off on a full ban of Chinese tourists entering the country despite public pressure to do so. National Development Minister Lawrence Wong yesterday cautioned Singaporeans against “overreacting” or “turning xenophobic.”
The Foreign Affairs Ministry last week said there were 35 Singaporeans in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the month-old outbreak, saying all “reported that they are well,” and there were no plans to evacuate them.
While Singapore was not planning to airlift citizens from Wuhan, Thai officials said they were devising plans to evacuate Thai nationals from the city, where it has 54 students and 10 workers. The meeting came after a viral plea from a Thai student at Wuhan University who said students were trapped in the city with insufficient food.
Read: ‘I really want to go home,’ says Thai student trapped in Wuhan without food
Thai Air Force commander Manat Wongwat reportedly said that up to four C-134 planes with medical staff and equipment are on stand-by to evacuate Thais from hotspots in China.
Malaysia moved to temporarily bar entry for Chinese tourists from Hubei province and its capital city of Wuhan by suspending their visas amid the pneumonia virus outbreak.
The decision comes after more than 300,000 signed a petition calling the country to ban entry for Chinese tourists.
Myanmar and Indonesia are still free of the coronavirus but remain vigilant as the outbreak spreads to neighbouring countries.
The country has investigated around 15 suspected cases, most of them tested negative. Results of three cases are pending.
Hong Kong has declared the Wuhan virus outbreak an emergency in the city amid pressure for the government to act. It has also banned entry of people from Hubei province, excluding Hong Kong residents.
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