Camiguin now applies temporary ban on tourists amid virus threat

By Jigger J. Jerusalem
Correspondent

After requiring local and foreign tourists to disclose their travel history before they are allowed to enter Camiguin, the provincial government has now temporarily restricted the entry of visitors who have been to countries hit by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) to the island-province.

Gov. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo posted a copy of executive order 5A dated Feb. 7, 2020 on social media Sunday evening.

The order has allowed the provincial government to impose “temporary travel restrictions to all non-residents of Camiguin who have traveled/visited places affected by novel coronavirus for the last three months.”

In the order, Romualdo said, “Camiguin as a tourist destination is a potential hotspot for the infections” and that “travel restriction regulating the movement of persons has been deemed to be effective in curbing the spread” of the virus.

The temporary travel ban covers locals and foreign nationals who wish to visit Camiguin who have visited China and other countries where the 2019-nCov infection has been reported.

Also, all residents of Camiguin who have traveled or visited China and its special administrative regions and other known places where the said infection is confirmed to exist are “required to undergo the mandatory [14] days quarantine or if necessary further medical investigation.”

The order has also instructed all hotels, resorts, common carriers, and other tourism-related establishments to “inform about this travel restriction in the Province of Camiguin to those tourists mentioned in section 1 of the executive order and shall be required to cancel and refund thereon any of their advance payment.”

The EO also mandated establishments to ask their arriving tourists to present their entry card issued by the local government of Camiguin as they are required to submit weekly to the provincial tourism office a list of their guests.

It added: “Any person found to have been willfully hidden such required information when demanded or to refuse shall be subject to investigation and applicable criminal prosecution.”

On Jan. 27, 2020, the provincial government has announced that a person suspected of having the 2019-nCov symptoms has tested negative.

It can be recalled that on Jan. 31, 2020, the governor has issued EO 5 ordering the mandatory disclosure of all tourists’ travel history before they were allowed to visit the island-province.

In an interview, Romualdo said they are even restricting the entry of tourists who merely had a layover in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

He added the provincial government has also organized the novel coronavirus task force as a precautionary measure against the infection.

The governor said that in the last week of January, there were around 130 Chinese tourists who have visited Camiguin, prompting them to establish health protocols in case of the spread of the infection.