Palace cautious in repatriating Filipinos in Hubei

January 28, 2020

The Philippine government has to be "very cautious" in repatriating Filipinos in Hubei province in China where there is an outbreak of novel coronavirus.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo noted that China is implementing a lockdown in Hubei where its capital city Wuhan is the epicenter of the coronavirus.

"They (China) are restricting (the movement of people) in order for the (virus) not to spread. If we're going to fetch them and will allow them to be repatriated here, (the virus) might spread here. So, we have to be very cautious," he explained.

He said the government must consider the "health issue on the spread."

"What could be better, they'll stay there for a while until the crisis is over or we'll get them and bring them here and open the possibility of spreading it here?" Panelo said.

But in case the Philippine would repatriate the Filipinos from Hubei, he said some protocols would be followed.

"If we can bring them here, then we will bring them here. We will have to do some protocols to make sure that if they have the disease they will not spread them," he said.

As to the possibility of banning the entry of nationals from countries where there are cases of coronavirus, he said that the Palace would wait for the recommendation of the Department of Health and the World Health Organization.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said there are around 300 Filipinos in Hubei. 

The death toll from coronavirus has climbed to over 100 in China. Celerina Monte/DMS