Dr. Arvin Alejandro, head of the Sarangani Health Office. (File photo courtesy of the provincial government)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Health personnel in Sarangani province are closely monitoring at least four Chinese tourists in the wake of the heightened alert against the deadly novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV).
Dr. Arvin Alejandro, head of the Sarangani Health Office, said Wednesday the Chinese nationals, who are currently staying in a beach resort in Glan town, are from Fujian province in China and arrived in the area last Monday.
Alejandro said the four entered the country through a flight from Guangdong, China to Clark International Airport in Pampanga on Jan. 30 and then flew to Davao City before proceeding to Glan.
“This is a routine monitoring. They are not under investigation and have not showed signs and symptoms of 2019-nCoV,” he said in an interview.
Fujian and Guangdong are among the areas in China that reported outbreaks of the 2019-nCoV these past weeks.
Alejandro said residents spotted the foreigners, composed of a male and three females aged 10 to 46-years-old, at a beach on Tuesday morning and immediately reported the matter to the local police.
After inspection of their documents, police personnel referred them to the Municipal Health Office for examination, he said.
Based on their interviews, he said the four tourists stayed in Davao City for three days before going to Glan.
Alejandro said the four took a bus from Davao City to General Santos, traveled to Glan through a passenger van and then rode a tricycle to their booked resort.
“They were actually cleared by the thermal scanned in Clark before they came here,” he said.
He said the movements of the four are not restricted and they are allowed to visit other areas but should always use protective face masks.
“For precautionary purposes, we advised them to avoid going to crowded places,” he said. (PNA)
