TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED. A boat of tourists heads to the famous sunken cemetery of Camiguin. The provincial government of Camiguin has ordered the temporary ban on local and foreign tourists who have been to areas abroad where the 2019 novel coronavirus has been reported starting Monday (Feb. 10, 2020). (File photo by Jigger J. Jerusalem)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- The provincial government of Camiguin has temporarily restricted the entry of tourists with travel history to countries hit by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) starting Monday (February 12).
This came after the island-province earlier required local and foreign tourists to disclose their travel history before they are allowed to enter Camiguin.
Based on the executive order dated February 7 and posted on Gov. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo's Facebook account on Sunday, the provincial government said it has imposed “temporary travel restrictions to all non-residents of Camiguin who have traveled/visited places affected by novel coronavirus for the last three months.”
Romualdo's order noted that “Camiguin as a tourist destination is a potential hotspot for the infections” and that “travel restriction regulating the movement of persons has been deemed to be effective in curbing the spread” of the virus.
The temporary travel ban covers locals and foreign nationals who wish to visit Camiguin who have visited China and other countries where the 2019-nCov infection has been reported.
Also, all residents of Camiguin who have traveled or visited China and its special administrative regions and other known places where the infection has been confirmed to exist are required to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine, "or if necessary further medical investigation.”
The order also directed all hotels, resorts, common carriers, and other tourism-related establishments to disseminate the travel restriction to the affected tourists and ordered them to "cancel and refund thereon any of their advance payment.”
The EO also mandated establishments to ask their arriving tourists to present their entry card issued by the local government of Camiguin as they are required to submit weekly to the provincial tourism office a list of their guests.
It also warned any person found to have "willfully hidden" or refused the required information "shall be subject to investigation and applicable criminal prosecution."
On Jan. 27, 2020, the provincial government announced that a person suspected of having the 2019-nCov symptoms has tested negative.
It can be recalled that on Jan. 31, 2020, the governor issued EO 5 ordering the mandatory disclosure of all tourists’ travel history before they were allowed to visit the island-province.
In an interview, Romualdo said they are also compelled to restrict the entry of tourists who merely had a layover in China, Hong Kong, and Macao.
The governor said that some 130 Chinese tourists visited Camiguin in late January, prompting the provincial government to establish health protocols in case of the spread of the infection. (PNA)
