By Genalyn Kabiling Filipinos coming from China will be required to undergo a self-quarantine for two weeks as part of the government's precaution against the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019 nCoV ARD), a health official said Monday. Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) director Celia Carlos (PCOO) As the government does all it can to contain the spread of the respiratory virus, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) director Celia Carlos said Filipinos who have travel history to China must stay at home for 14 days to see if they develop any symptoms. Carlos made the remarks as the government prepares to dispatch an aircraft to fetch a group of Filipinos in Hubei, China this week following the global outbreak of the illness. "If personnel returning from China have no symptoms, no fever, no respiratory symptoms, just a history of travel, they need to do self-monitoring at home. So they stay at home, preferably separated from the rest of the household. If they can stay in a separate room, that’s much better," she said in a Palace press briefing. She said these travelers are advised to monitor their temperature twice a day as well as wear masks from the date of arrival until they complete the 14-day quarantine. "If they have no symptoms, then that’s it. But if they develop symptoms, they’re advised to go to a facility which can evaluate them. So that’s the general instruction," she said. She said public and private hospitals have dedicated areas and personnel who can attend to patients with flu-like symptoms. Meanwhile, around 42 Filipino workers from Hubei province have expressed their willingness to return home and will be fetched by foreign affairs and health authorities, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said. "The expected goal is to be able to fetch them within the week," Abella said in the same Palace press briefing. “Formerly it was 40, it’s now 42,” he said about the number of Filipinos who wish to return to the Philippines from Hubei province. A rapid response team from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) along with five to seven medical personnel from the Department of Health (DOH) may be deployed to fetch the Filipino repatriates. "The aircraft may leave for China sometime this week,” he said. President Duterte earlier ordered a temporary ban on foreigners coming from China and its special administrative regions amid the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Filipinos and holders of permanent visa holders will be allowed to return to the country, but must undergo quarantine, based on the President's directive. The World Health Organization has already declared a public health emergency of international concern over the outbreak of the virus that broke out in China. Of the two cases recorded in the country, the health department recently reported the first death from the coronavirus.