DILG 14-day quarantine memo now only applies to China, Hong Kong, Macau
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government modified its earlier memorandum ordering a two-week quarantine period for all travelers from countries affected by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease outbreak.
As of Friday, the department's Memo Circular 2020-023 (Amended Guide to Action against the 2019 Novel Coronavirus) now only refers to travelers coming from China, Hong Kong and Macau.
“All other travelers from other nCoV-affected countries may undergo voluntary quarantine,” Interior Undersecretary and official spokesperson Jonathan Malaya announced on Friday.
The 2019 nCoV ARD has at least 31,481 confirmed cases globally, according to the latest World Health Organization situational report.
Almost all of the cases (99.14%) are in China, with 270 infections in 24 other countries.
The DILG memorandum orders local chief executives to organize barangay health emergency response teams, with a minimum ratio of one team for every population of 5,000.
RELATED: DILG orders creation of local task forces vs nCoV
They are also tasked to identify barangay isolation units — "a temporary facility within the barangay where persons arriving from a country with a confirmed nCoV case; or, have been exposed to an environment where patients with severe acute respiratory infections are being cared for, without regard to place of residence or history of travel; and manifesting symptoms, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty of breathing can voluntary submit themselves for check-up, screening and voluntary quarantine for purposes of the prescribed 14-day observation period."
In coordination with proper authorities, punong barangays under the said memo must strictly implement and monitor the two-week quarantine of people coming from China, Hong Kong and Macau (previously all countries affected by outbreak).
The Interior Department also flagged a fake infographic being circulated on social media claiming that the 14-day quarantine applies to all travelers arriving from virus-affected countries.
“We would like to clarify that the said infographic was not issued by this department,” the DILG posted on social media.
It advised the public to only follow official announcements posted on its website and verified social media accounts.
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