11 Boracay tourists return to South Korea

AKLAN, Philippines – The 11 tourists from South Korea were allowed to return home to Incheon via Kalibo International Airport on February 28 and 29 after they were monitored in Boracay Island without flu-like symptoms.

Madel Joy Tayco, deputy information manager of Malay inter-agency task force against COVID-19, said no people have been diagnosed with the 2019 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in Malay, Aklan and Boracay Island.

Tayco said that the Koreans were classified as persons under monitoring (PUMs) after the Philippine government banned the entry of visitors on Wednesday, February 26 from South Korea’s North Gyeongsang province.

The Koreans – 6 males and 5 females – were not under mandatory quarantine since they arrived in Boracay Island for vacation on Tuesday, February 25. But Tayco said that the tourists had been medically cleared and took the direct flight out of Aklan to South Korea.

“Zero na tayo sa PUMs na South Koreans, nag check out na sila sa Boracay at bumalik sa South Korea. No PUMs na ibang nationalities, so far (We have zero PUM South Koreans because they have checked out of Boracay and returned to South Korea. We have no PUMs of other nationalities, so far),” Tayco said.

North Gyeongsang province and Daegu, South Korea’s epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, have tallied over 2,300 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 13 casualties. (READ: South Korea reports 376 more coronavirus cases, total 3,526)

Ahead of the summer season, Boracay Island is expected to experience a drop in the daily influx of arrivals from China and South Korea, the two biggest inbound tourist markets of Aklan.

Health authorities in Aklan have also instituted measures in Caticlan port in Malay, Aklan to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading.

The Covid-19 threat forced the Provincial Health Office (PHO-Aklan) and Caticlan port medical staff  to conduct health screenings to monitor the body temperature of drivers and passengers using thermometer guns.

Last January 30, travelers from Macau, Hong Kong, and mainland China – the epicenter of deadly virus – were also banned by health authorities from entering the Philippines. – Rappler.com