MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice would
be willing to instruct the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to
assist in locating and quarantining the Chinese family suspected to be carriers of the coronavirus from China, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
As of this writing, the new SARS-like virus has already killed 17 people in China, reports say.
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"Should the DOH need our help, I will direct the BI and the NBI to track down the whereabouts of these Chinese nationals and find the people they have interacted with in our country," Guevarra told reporters Thursday.
This comes amid a worldwide scare following reports that
the virus has been detected in the United States along with other parts of Asia.
A Hong Kong newspaper said that the family of the Chinese man who
was listed as the first carrier of the virus travelled to the Philippines via Cebu Pacific Flight 5J-111.
The airline, though, said they did not place any of the passengers aboard the flight on quarantine, and that
no significant fevers were detected.
Guevarra also disclosed that the family was already being tracked and was careful to assure the public that the
appropriate measures should have already
been taken.
"BI has informed me
that they are now identifying this family from Wuhan and tracking their whereabouts in the country," he said.
“
I’m sure that the DOH Bureau of Quarantine has taken steps to restrict the movements of this family from Wuhan," he added.
On Thursday, the Department of Transportation also said in a separate statement that airports and seaports had already implemented safety measures and strict passenger screening.
This is a developing story. — with reports from The STAR/Evelyn Macairan and Agence France-Presse