"The global specter of the deadly disease is for real."
"The global specter of the deadly disease is for real."
We are fortunate that there has been only one new case of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country since last month’s death at the San Lazaro Hospital of the Chinese national who traveled from Wuhan City to Cebu and Dumaguete City with his girlfriend, the first reported case of infection.
The third confirmed case at the San Lazaro Hospital is that of a 60-year-old Chinese national, who also came from Wuhan, and visited Cebu and then Bohol where she was first hospitalized in January.
Apparently the travel ban on inbound visitors from Wuhan, Macau and Hong Kong had helped minimize the possibility of person-to-person transmission of coronavirus.
We are at this point truly blessed with such few cases, as global concern grows over the alarming outbreak of COVID-19 cases reported in the past three days in South and North Korea, Singapore, Iran and Italy, among 27 countries affected so far. The global specter of the deadly disease is for real.
Now, the authorities must consider the growing clamor from some camps and netizens for the Duterte government to impose the prohibition on incoming and outgoing travelers to South Korea and Singapore.
We strongly hope that the Department of Health would continue to do a good job containing the virus thus far, even as they assured us there should be "no worry" of that happening with the scheduled arrival of nearly 500 Filipino repatriates from the virus-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess in Tokyo, Japan.
Certainly, we understand the apprehension of some local officials and residents around the Athletes' Village in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac where the repatriates will be quarantined for two weeks. A previous group of 49 Filipino repatriates from Wuhan have been cleared to go home after the compulsory 14-day quarantine period in the same sports facility.
We share the sentiment of those anxious about the possibility of the pandemic spreading in the country but we definitely cannot turn our back on our fellow Filipinos who have nowhere to go but home.
It is important to note that at least 59 Filipino crew members confirmed to have contracted the disease aboard the cruise ship will not be among those bound for New Clark City today. They will remain hospitalized in Japan as all 3,700 have disembarked Diamond Princess.
I do not believe there is a dearth of scientific and medical expertise in this country to effectively minimize, if not to eliminate, the threat of this “mysterious” disease.
I believe we can overcome this crisis with a government inter-agency effort and active support of the private sector, particularly private medical entities, who have the needed resources to get things done. There is no reason we can’t, as we have proven the Filipino resiliency.