AirAsia to give DOH contact details of nCoV case’s co-passengers

AirAsia said it was ready to help the Department of Health (DOH) trace the co-passengers of the Philippines' third confirmed case of novel coronavirus infection who flew out back to China.

"AirAsia is ready and willing to provide relevant documents to the DOH, including the flight manifest and available contact details of guests on board the flight, given the urgency of this situation," the airline said in a statement.

"The operating flight crew have also been quarantined in compliance with the Philippine government’s travel ban," it added.

The country's third confirmed case was a 60-year-old Chinese woman who arrived in Cebu via a Cebu Pacific flight from Hong Kong on January 20. She also went to Bohol.

The woman left for Shenzhen, China with her healthy companions on January 31 after testing negative in two confirmatory tests conducted by health authorities.

"AirAsia flies once daily to Shenzhen from Cebu—with flight number Z2 7800. The concerned flight departed Cebu on 31 January 2019 at 11:35pm (local time) and arrived in Shenzhen at 2:40am (local time)," Airasia said.

Many airlines cancelled Philippines-China flights on February 1, in light of the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said that it was only on February 3 that the Department of Health was notified by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine regarding the positive results of the woman which is based on another sample taken from her.

Though the DOH said that contact tracing is not necessary for those whom the third confirmed case got in contact during her departure from the Philippines, Airasia still advised the concerned Shenzhen-bound passengers to "seek medical help if they have been feeling unwell."

Further, it said that a mandatory temperature screening of all passengers prior to boarding the plane were in place and that its aircraft undergo disinfection procedures as part of the protocol.

AirAsia cancelled its flights between the Philippines and mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao pursuant to the travel restrictions imposed by the government. —NB, GMA News