Solon files resolution to impose ban on China-Bohol flights

TAGBILARAN CITY-  Bohol 2nd district Representative Erico Aristotle Aumentado filed a resolution on Monday seeking to immediately impose a travel moratorium on flights from China to Bohol due to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019 n-CoV).

In House Resolution No. 669, he said that "coronaviruses are a large family of viruses ranging from the common colds  to more serious respiratory infections such as MERS-CoV and SARS CoV and there are no vaccines or antiviral drugs that are approved for prevention."

"The  Philippines maintains flights between Panglao International Airport in Panglao, Bohol and China, particularly flights from HongKong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chengdu and Wuhan which caters to thousands of incoming tourists," Aumentado said.

He said as a health measure and to curb the risk of spreading the infection in the country, an immediate travel moratorium must be imposed halting the direct flight from China to Panglao International Airport.

Aumentado quoted China's health minister Ma Xiaowei who said the Wuhan coronavirus can spread before people show flu-like symptoms.

He added that "It's much harder to contain a virus -- to track down a patient's contacts and quarantine them immediately -- if the patient was spreading the disease for days or weeks before they even realized they had it."

The Bohol-Panglao International Airport (BPIA) is still on heightened alert as part of efforts to prevent the entry of coronavirus in Bohol.

On Monday, a couple arrived at 7:50 a.m. on board Pan Pacific Airlines from Chengdu City, the capital of southwestern China's Sichuan province.

The couple tested negative for fever as they passed through the thermal scanner before they could proceed to the immigration. 

Unlike last week, 172 Chinese tourists arrived at BPIA on Friday morning, January 24, who were allowed to enter the country since no one showed symptoms that they harbored the virus.

The BPIA services two flights from China every week—Mondays and Fridays.

Some Bohol  residents called on the provincial government to cancel flights from China to Bohol after many were alarmed when two Chinese nationals, aged 2 and 36, were placed under observation in Bohol after showing flu-like symptoms. — BAP, GMA News