After the Department of Health (DOH) announced yesterday the first confirmed case of the 2019 novel-coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an order to temporarily stop the entry of all visitors from China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan — epicenter of the novel coronavirus — is located.
In a statement, Presidential spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said Duterte approved the recommendation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to impose “an indefinite travel ban on incoming travelers from the entire province of Hubei, China.”
“It will last until the threat is over given that the safety of our countrymen is foremost in the President’s mind,” Panelo said.
He said the travel ban may also be expanded to cover other provinces in China upon the recommendation of the Chinese government and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The DOH said a Chinese woman, who came from the city of Wuhan, is now confined at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila after testing positive for 2019-nCoV.
Prior to arriving in Manila, the woman also travelled to Hong Kong, Cebu, and Dumaguete.
Safe workplaces
The report prompted the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday to issue an advisory ordering employers to safeguard their workplaces against the 2019-nCoV.
In Labor Advisory No. 4-2020 , Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III directed employers to provide information about 2019-nCoV to their workers.
They should clean the work areas with disinfectant and make sure that water, soap and sanitizer are available in all washrooms and toilets; prevent or minimize the exposure of their employees to animals, environments and objects which may possible carry the 2019-nCoV; and ensure foods in their canteens and other similar areas are properly handled and cooked.
Bello said the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC), Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), and DOLE-Regional Offices) in coordination with DOH technical aid to employers for this purpose.
DOLE also called on employers to ensure their workers exercise proper health habits such as covering the nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing; washing hands regularly; and avoiding close contact with sick people among other.
Special considerations
For workplaces, which have a higher risk of exposure to the disease like hospitals, Bello said employers should install a “screening program on 2019-nCoV in accordance with the Guidelines issued by the Department of Health.”
“Workers in said workplaces must take extra precautionary measures, which include strict hygiene and the use of personal protective equipment,” Bello said.
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) called on the DOH to provide free face masks to poor citizens residing and working in areas identified by government as high risk areas due to possible 2019-nCoV exposure.
“We understand that this national emergency is a protracted phenomenon and not all citizens can afford to buy a steady supply of standard face masks and so we call on government to allow the poor to access to life-saving face masks by providing them for free,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said.
“Providing free face masks will also help the poor from the economic burden caused by the need to buy these masks for self-protection and contamination,” he added.
Sick benefits
In case one of their workers, will be infected by 2019-nCoV, employers, DOLE said, should ensure they will exercise self-quarantine in their homes.
Bello said the infected employees could make use of their sick/vacation leaves so they could still get their pay, while under quarantine.
He encouraged employed to “adopt a flexible and enlightened approach in granting time-off” for their workers, who take a leave to take care of children or parents afflicted or suspected of having 2019-nCoV.
Bello said infected workers, who infected in the performance of their duties, will be entitled to sick benefits from the Social Security System (SSS).
“In the event that the worker is not qualified to avail of the benefits under SSS or Philhealth due to the fault of the employer, the employer shall shoulder all the medical expenses until full recovery,” Bello said.
Global health emergency
WHO has already declared the spread of 2019-nCoV as a “global emergency” after it already spread in China and 18 other countries.
As of Jan. 30, WHO said there were already 7,818 confirmed cases of the disease worldwide. Of the said incidents, 7,736 are from China and the remaining 82 are in Japan; South Korea; Vietnam; Singapore;’ Australia; Malaysia; Cambodia; Thailand; Nepal; Sri Lanka; India; United States of America; Canada; France; Finland; Germany; United Arab Emirates; and Philippines.
Despite the spread of the 2019-nCoV in said countries, DOLE has yet to receive any reports from its Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO), who were infected by disease abroad as of Jan. 31.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez