Philippines quarantines in Cebu 26 Koreans from Daegu City

Twenty-six Koreans who came from Daegu City in South Korea, the epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak there, have been placed under quarantine in Cebu by the Department of Health (DOH) Region 7.

According to Mariz Umali's report on "24 Oras", Health officials in Cebu immediately conducted contact tracing of the Korean nationals when the Palace imposed on Wednesday a travel ban on the North Gyeongsang province of South Korea.

The ban came after a surge in COVID-19 cases in East Asian country. 

DOH Central Visayas Director Jaime Bernadas said the 26 Koreans arrived in the Philippines from Daegu City on Tuesday night, just hours ahead of the announcement of a travel ban.

“The initial decision was to trace where these 26 are billeted in the city and then instruct the hotels and the individual persons to really be on strict confinement in their respective hotels," Barnadas said.

"We have identified the hotels, we identified, of course, the persons," he added.

Out of the 26 Koreans, 19 are between the ages of 23 and 62 while seven children are aged 6 to 12 years old.

The foreigners spread out across 16 different hotels, with 14 of them in Cebu City and 12 of them in Lapu-Lapu City.

Bernadas said all 26 Koreans are asymptomatic and classified only as persons under monitoring.

Health officials have not yet taken swabs from the foreigners since they have not manifested any COVID-19 symptoms.

Bernadas assured the public that their presence is not a cause for alarm since authorities were able to stop them from going to Bohol, Dumaguete, and other parts of Cebu.

“Very limited ‘yung window na umalis sila... They must not have really traveled far from the hotel when the information (travel ban) came,” he said.

Daily flights from Daegu City to Cebu have been canceled due to the outbreak.

The DOH also said they are still studying whether the 26 foreigners will be sent back to South Korea since they are all asymptomatic. —NB, GMA News