Locsin opposes travel ban on Singapore amid Covid-19 threat

FILE: Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. at the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, Belgium on October 19, 2018. PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he would oppose a travel ban on Singapore amid the 58 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the Southeast Asian state.

“I will not support a travel ban to & from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Singapore. A ban should hinge not on the incidence & number of infections/fatalities but on the demonstrated capability of the state concerned to contain the disease & strictly regulate ingress and egress from its air/seaports,” Locsin wrote on his official Twitter account on Thursday.

Singapore has raised its alert level to orange, which means the disease is severe and spreads easily from one person to another.

A similar alert level was last imposed by Singapore during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.

There are 58 confirmed Covid-19 patients in the Southeast Asian state, 711 cases who tested negative, 15 discharged, and 82 with pending test results.

As of Thursday, the Singaporean government clarified that no country has banned travel to the city-state.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said he would present an assessment before the inter-agency task force about a possible travel restriction on Singapore.

President Rodrigo Duterte has imposed a travel ban on all foreign nationals from mainland China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.