All persons regardless of nationality as long as they have travel history to China and its special administrative regions (SAR) Hong Kong and Macao in the last 14 days are temporarily barred from entering Malay, Aklan, where Boracay Island is also located.

On Thursday, the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Malay adopted the resolution passed by the Malay Task Force Against 2019-nCoV requesting the town mayor to issue an executive order (EO) for the temporary suspension of entry and to implement other precautionary measures to combat the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Once acting Mayor Frolibar Bautista issues the EO, then they will sit down to come up with its Implementing Rules and Regulations, Madel Joy T. Tayco, deputy information manager of the Inter-Agency Task Force, said in a phone interview

As of Thursday morning, 303 guests, mostly Chinese nationals, are being monitored in Boracay Island from the previous 429. Tayco added that the number already includes the 22 Chinese nationals who arrived on the island on Wednesday.

She said amid the temporary ban imposed since Feb. 2, Chinese tourists and other guests with a history of travel to China still can go to Boracay because they arrived in the country before the ban.

“Even with the ban, they can still go around the Philippines,” she said.

The guests are currently staying in various resorts and hotels.

“We constantly coordinate with DOT (Department of Tourism), our tourism office and hotels to monitor those labeled as PUM (persons under monitoring),” she added.

Meantime, Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores, in an interview on the sidelines of the joint meeting of the Regional Development Council and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) here, said their Inter-agency Task Force on nCoV in their province has already agreed on several measures to combat the coronavirus.

These include allocation of isolation rooms for persons under investigation (PUIs) at Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital (DRSTMH) and provision of personal protective equipment to health workers and establish a temporary holding facility to be managed by the Bureau of Quarantine in case there are passengers who will volunteer to be placed under monitoring.

The hospital has four isolation rooms but they are planning to add another two, the governor said.

They also have a protocol to transport if there are any PUIs from Boracay to the DRSTMH. A special ambulance has been dedicated to transporting the PUI from the island to the provincial hospital minimizing contacts with other persons.

“We have instituted and we have suggested this to the RDC that we will now require all incoming passengers both seaports and airports to have a health declaration card so they can easily be monitored. We also use thermal scanners to identify possible carriers,” he added.

The governor added that as verified there are no confirmed cases in Aklan and Western Visayas as a whole. (PNA)