300 Chinese nationals stranded in Philippines amid travel ban to stem novel coronavirus
MANILA, Philippines — About 300 Chinese nationals were stranded in the Philippines after their flights had been canceled due to the travel ban to China and its administrative regions, a Bureau of Immigration official said Monday.
President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a temporary travel ban to China and its administrative regions Macau and Hong Kong to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or nCoV ARD. The government has also imposed a temporary ban on travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau but it does not cover Filipino citizens and holders of Philippine permanent resident visa.
"There are around 300 Chinese nationals who stranded in NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) because most of the airlines have canceled their flights already to and from the different parts of China," Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said at a press briefing in Malacañang.
Sandoval later on clarified that the figure also included Chinese nationals in other parts of the country who want to go home.
"Our office is coordinating with the Chinese embassy and they have pledged to send an aircraft to fetch their citizens who are stranded in the country. Maybe today (Feb. 3) or the next few days we’ll find out the details of these flights that the Chinese embassy will be arranging," Sandoval said.
"There are also other foreign nationals but most of the ones that were stranded since yesterday (Feb. 2) have already departed," she added.
Repatriation efforts
At the same briefing, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said 42 Filipinos in Hubei, where the virus originated, have requested to be repatriated.
He said a rapid response team from the migrant workers' affairs office and five to seven medical personnel from the Health department may be deployed to fetch the Filipinos.
"The aircraft (that will repatriate the Filipinos) may leave for China sometime this week," Abella said.
The agency announced plans to repatriate Filipinos who want to leave Hubei last January 31.
Abella said no Filipinos in China have been confirmed to be infected with nCoV ARD so far.
"The Philippine embassy and six Philippine consulates general in China continue to issue timely advisories through the official websites and social media like WeChat," the foreign affairs official said.
All foreign service posts have established 24/7 hotlines so they can immediately respond to the needs of Filipinos in affected areas. There are 295,047 Filipino in mainland China.
Follow this page for updates on a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that has struck dozens of people in China.
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