Dr. Arvin Alejandro, Sarangani health officer. (Photo from Facebook page of NNC-12)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Health personnel in Sarangani province discharged on Thursday the four Chinese tourists who were placed under quarantine last week for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Dr. Arvin Alejandro, head of the Sarangani health office, said the foreigners were released around 5:50 a.m. from the isolation facility of the Regional Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Barangay Kawas, Alabel town after completing their 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Alejandro said the four tourists, one of them a minor, did not show any signs and symptoms and were cleared of Covid-19 infection.
“They were issued certification noting that they have properly complied and completed the quarantine protocol set by the Department of Health (DOH),” he said in a report released by the Sarangani Communications Service.
Alejandro said the Chinese nationals, who were from Fujian province in China, were brought directly to the city international airport for their scheduled flight to Manila.
He said they had coordinated with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and Cebu Pacific for the rebooking of the flights of the foreigners back to China.
The tourists were sent to the DOH-run drug rehabilitation center on February 6--then on their seventh day in the country--to undergo quarantine after being considered as persons under monitoring (PUM) for Covid-19.
Although asymptomatic, the four were classified as PUMs as they hail from mainland China, where the Covid-19 outbreak was first reported.
The foreigners entered the country on January 30 through a flight from Guangdong, China, to Clark International Airport and were initially allowed to proceed after clearing the thermal scanners at the airport.
The tourists flew to Davao City and stayed there for three days before traveling to this city and Glan, Sarangani, by land.
They stayed for several days in a beach resort in Glan and moved to an apartelle in here last Feb. 5 as they were scheduled to fly the next day to Manila. They were stopped, however, by health personnel and subjected to quarantine as advised by the DOH epidemiology bureau. (PNA)
