The Department of Health (DOH) said it is tracing at least 182 travelers from South Africa who arrived in the Philippines last Nov. 15 to 29.
The DOH said that from Nov. 15 to 29, they have recorded a total of 253 arrivals from South Africa. Of these arrivals, 249 were returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) while four were foreign nationals.
The Philippine government has temporarily suspended international inbound flights from South Africa on Nov. 26 until Dec. 15.
It said that the Bureau of Quarantine “has already verified or contacted 71 of these travelers while 182 are still being verified.”
Citing Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 151, local government units, Bureau of Quarantine, and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) were instructed to to locate passengers who arrived in the Philippines from Nov. 15 to 29, said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing.
Of the 71 located travelers, four of them have already been tested for COVID-19, said DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman in a separate briefing.
“Tatlo ay negatibo, ang isa ay hinihintay pa natin ang resulta (Three tested negative while we are still waiting for the result of the other individual). The other 67 are yet to be retested,” she said.
“All 71 who have been located and verified are undergoing quarantine. Seventy of these are under facility quarantine and these include the three foreign nationals who arrived or who were in Region 6, and we have one who is undergoing home quarantine who is a returning overseas Filipino,” she added.