DepEd postpones Palarong Pambansa, other events amid nCoV threat

The Department of Education (DepEd) will temporarily postpone this year's Palarong Pambansa and other big events lined up for the first quarter of 2020 to prevent the possible spread of the novel coronavirus, Secretary Leonor Briones said Tuesday.

"We have been advised to take care with exposing our children to crowded places so right now the policy is for temporary postponement of all these activities because we'll be drawing in our learners, teachers, family members from all regions for these athletic meets, talent festivities and so on," Briones said during a Senate hearing on the virus threat.

Few hours after the Secretary's statement, DepEd issued a clarification in a Facebook post saying the annual national games will not be among the activities that will not push through. 

“We reiterate that the Palarong Pambansa is NOT included in the list since it will officially open by May this year,” they said.

“A complete copy of the memorandum will be released and posted at www.deped.gov.ph and DepEd Philippines Facebook page as soon as possible for the guidance of the public.”

During the hearing, Briones explained that in Palarong Pambansa alone, 30,000 students, teachers, and athletes' relatives are expected to attend.

The said annual sports meet for elementary and high school students was supposed to be hosted by Marikina City after the original host Occidental Mindoro was damaged by Typhoon Tisoy.

Briones underscored that while flights and accommodations were already made for some national events, the DepEd considers the welfare of the learners paramount.

She also discouraged schools from facilitating field trips to minimize the risk of exposure to the virus.

"We are temporarily discouraging or suspending activities because of danger of exposure but we are not totally forbidding this or cancelling. On a weekly basis, we'll be getting bulletins from the Department of Health kung pwede nang magbiyahe," she said.

The Philippines has two confirmed cases of novel coronavirus—a Chinese couple who arrived in Cebu from Hong Kong on January 21. From there, they transferred to Dumaguete and Manila. One of them died last Saturday and became the first fatality outside China.

Eight people who had contact with them are now experiencing coughs and colds, according to the Department of Health. — RSJ/LDF, GMA News