Clark Athletes Village will be quarantine zone for Filipinos from China

February 6, 2020

The Department of Health (DOH) Thursday said the Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has chosen New Clark City in Tarlac as the quarantine area for repatriated Filipinos from Hubei, China.

"We plan to bring back our fellow Filipinos here in the country as seamlessly and efficiently as possible. Procedures were set into place from the moment our OFW kababayans board the plane up until their arrival at New Clark City,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press conference late Thursday.

He said New Clark City was chosen since it was strategically located.

Duque said there are better rooms with one for each individual, while a family of  three can have their own air-conditioned room with television.

"The rooms are with almost complete amenities with refrigerators, televisions, individualized toilets, which is very good, unlike in Fort Magsaysay, where the toilets will have to be shared," said Duque.

But Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said they have yet to secure the clearance from Chinese authorities to repatriate the Filipinos from Hubei.

"As of now, we have no clearance yet," said Dulay. "This is not just a Philippine endeavor but also of China."

However, he said a total of 45 Filipinos have signified their intentions to be repatriated.

Dulay said they are looking at a February 8 departure from China and a February 9 arrival if they secure a clearance.

Duque said there are 178 persons under investigation in the country.

Of the 178, a total of 147 remain admitted, while 16 have been discharged.

At least 10 have also refused admission, according to Duque.

"We are already in coordination with the Philippine National Police for them to compel those refusing admission to undergo testing and be isolated," said Duque.

A total of 127 PUIs continue to await for the laboratory test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

In a separate interview, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said they expect the 2019-nCoV problem to be on a decline "in one to two months".

''In one month or two, we expect the PUI cases to go down already because there will be no more entry from China and it will be easier to monitor those already here in the country for 14 days," added Domingo. DMS