NO SCREENING. Inbound passengers to Negros Oriental province via the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport are no longer required to present a negative Covid-19 test result. The Department of Health has urged local government units to monitor closely travelers arriving in the Philippines from other countries, citing an increase in Covid-19 cases in China. (File photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – A citizen of the United States of America (USA) who traveled from China to Negros Oriental province and tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) last week ended her seven-day isolation on Wednesday.
Jennifer Remollo, provincial chief of the Department of Health (DOH) in Negros Oriental, told the Philippine News Agency that the foreign national works in China and went to the Philippines for a vacation.
The foreigner, she noted, is not required to have a repeat swab for Covid-19 once she is released from isolation as she is asymptomatic.
“That is our current policy for Covid-19 patients, however, it is now up to her if she needs to have a negative swab test prior to her return to China, where she is employed,” Remollo said.
The foreign national arrived in the province from China on Dec. 31 and had stayed at a resort in Dauin town, about half an hour’s drive south of this capital.
On Jan. 4, she sought testing via Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) at the provincial molecular laboratory as a requirement for her to return to work, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion earlier said.
The RT-PCR result came back positive, prompting health authorities to place her under isolation at the resort where she was staying.
The Dauin local government unit also immediately mobilized its health team to do contact tracing and isolated those who were exposed to the American national.
However, all contacts tested negative for the coronavirus.
This is the first foreign national and traveler from China to arrive in Negros Oriental this year who tested positive for Covid-19, Remollo said, although the variant type of the coronavirus was not immediately known.
She emphasized that a DOH memorandum issued in late December not only focuses on travelers from China but all inbound passengers from overseas to be closely monitored and screened.
The memorandum seeking the strengthening of border control and monitoring of travelers came following an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in China during the holidays, she added.
Remollo is appealing to local government units to undertake monitoring activities of overseas travelers in their respective areas considering that Covid-19 screening at airports and seaports is no longer required.
Those who exhibit flu-like symptoms should seek medical attention immediately, Remollo added. (PNA)
