“To strengthen its existing measures, the DOH directed the Bureau of Quarantine to intensify quarantine protocols such as heightened surveillance on all respiratory symptoms in all travelers and conveyances coming from China,” the DOH said in a statement.
The health department added that the Maritime Declaration of Health and the health section of the Aircraft General Declaration must be thoroughly reviewed by the BOQ.
The statement came after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the country may impose testing requirements on travelers from China as long as it is “based on science and there is a need to do.”
“Yes, well we — as long as it’s based on science and we feel that there’s a need, we will do it. But again, it depends on what the true risk is to us,” he said.
“Kung naman (If) it’s something that is manageable, then I’m sure we can find a way to — not completely close our borders to China, but to find a way to have a procedure so that those coming from China who may have been exposed or who may have been infected (with the coronavirus) will be tested and ‘yun lang naman ang ating inaalala,” the President added.
China earlier announced that it will ease its Covid-19 policies on lockdowns and testing amid public protests, which was also seen to lead to a surge in Covid-19 infections.
Several countries, including South Korea, Italy, Japan, India and the United States, have brought back the need for Covid-19 testing of travelers arriving from China, as some believe that there is a lack of transparency on the country’s Covid-19 data.
Malaysia has also mandated that travelers from China who have fever or who self-declare symptoms be transported to a quarantine facility or to the appropriate health authorities.
Marcos said he is also more inclined not to extend the state of calamity on Covid-19, saying that the country is no longer in a state of calamity.
“I’m still very, very hesitant to continue the state of calamity, to extend it because again, we are not in a state of calamity anymore, technically speaking,” Marcos said.
“And that is the wrong mindset to be approaching the new year with. So we’re still trying to find ways to continue to provide the benefits to our medical health workers, which is the main issue, without the state of calamity,” the President added. (SunStar Philippines)