At least 16 individuals, including14 foreign tourists, who visited Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Puerto Princesa, Philippines, tested positive for COVID-19, according to Puerto Princesa’s Incident Management Team.
“So all in all po meron tayong 14 na turista na nag-positive at dalawang local crew po ng malaking yate na po ito. So 16 lahat talaga sumatotal, out of 43 na katao na sumakay po ng yate,” IMT commander Dr. Dean Palanca said in a press briefing Tuesday
(So, all in all, we have 14 tourists who tested positive and two local crews of this big yacht. So 16 in total, out of 43 people who boarded the yacht.)
The COVID-19 patients are quarantined at the Puerto Princesa quarantine facility.
Palanca reported that 43 people, including 23 foreign visitors and 20 local crew members, boarded a yacht bound for Tubbataha on May 14. A few days later, one of the vacationers developed symptoms.
The government of Puerto Princesa will conduct contact tracing concerning the event.
Early this month, 15 fully vaccinated foreign travelers in Palawan also tested positive for COVID-19.
DOH said in a statement that 13 of the tourists were asymptomatic, while the other two started showing moderate symptoms on April 27 and 28.
They also went to Tubbataha Reefs in Puerto Princesa.
14 foreign tourists test positive for COVID-19 in Puerto Princesa
“Itong 15 na galing sa Tubbataha [Reef] ay maayos naman ang kanilang kundisyon at hindi naman sila malala or umabot sa moderate. Halos kalahati sa kanila is asymptomatic. May konting ubo, konting sipon,” said incident commander Dean Palanca.
“14 were isolated in facilities while one was admitted to a hospital. They were tested in RT-PCR on April 29-30, of which all resulted as positive,” the Health department added.
Since February 10, the Philippines has been open to business and leisure travelers from 157 visa-free countries. Since April 1, foreign tourists, especially those from visa-exempt countries, have been welcomed in the country.
Only fully vaccinated international travelers are permitted to enter the country. In addition, they must show a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test result 48 hours before departure or a negative laboratory-based antigen result 24 hours before departure.
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