Caticlan port seeks DOH help on MERS

Port authorities are asking the Department of Health (DOH) what to do in light of the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in South Korea.
Caticlan jetty port facilitates hundreds of tourists, local and foreign, to this island resort every day.
Majority of the island’s foreign visitors are South Koreans, with their number reaching 9,862 from June 1 to 14 this year alone, port records showed.
The figure was only slightly higher than the 9,657 in the same period last year.
From June to August is the period considered the “super peak season” in terms of South Korean arrivals, according to the jetty port administrator Niven Maquirang.
“We could ask our [port] personnel to wear protective masks, but this might piss the tourists off,” Maquirang said. “The best thing to do is to ask the DOH.”
Three new MERS-CoV cases were recorded in South Korea yesterday, raising the total number of cases to 172, in what could be the largest outbreak outside of Saudi Arabia, international news wires have reported.
Fatalities also rose to 27, with two new deaths — men aged 84 and 87 — recorded from Sunday night to Monday morning, the wire reports said, citing the South Korean health ministry.
Guarding Western Visayas’ entry points is crucial in preventing the spread of MERS-CoV, according to DOH Region 6.
The region’s three airports servicing international flights — in Cabatuan, Iloilo; Silay City, Negros Occidental; and Kalibo, Aklan — have been equipped with thermal scanners to detect persons with fever, one of MERS-CoV’s symptoms./