BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO
TWENTY people believed to be local students studying in the Philippines arrived on Tuesday and were allowed through without being quarantined, it is reported.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Health and Medical Services, Mr Dickson Mua, when queried on Wednesday 18th March.
He could not comment on why the students were not quarantined despite having come from one of the coronavirus hotspots in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mua however says that he has issued strong instructions to officers of his ministry to track down these individuals and have them undergo home-quarantine under monitor.
Mua adds that this incident indicates flights should be reduced and gradually banned.
Meanwhile, the Immigration Office confirmed to Island Sun that a group has travelled in from the Philippines who had transited through Papua New Guinea.
Immigration could not corroborate Mua’s statement that the group are local students studying in the Philippines.
