Davao Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said the city government wanted to require people flying out of the Davao International Airport to undergo health screening to ensure that individuals boarding their flights are free of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Speaking over Davao City Disaster Radio, Mayor Inday on Monday said the city government proposed the same to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), considering that it is more difficult to conduct contact-tracing if ever one passenger later turns out positive of the disease.
“During sa discussion namo, niingon ang doctor, kung diri ta mag-check ang mahitabo ana kung duna’y positive, mahurot ka-quarantine ang mga airport employees and pati mga airline crew. Nagsulti ang doctor dapat daw ang testing should be done before departure dili upon arrival,” she said.
Mayor Inday said under the proposal, the screening of a passenger should be done a day or three before the scheduled flight.
“So nagsulat mi sa DOTR ug sa national level, nagpadala ta og mga suggestions, nag-ingon ta nga diri sa Davao we will prepare testing before departure, so dapat ang tanang airports ang testing nila is before departure. So kung naa tay makuha nga positive sa mga pasahero, dili na siya makasakay,” she added.
Currently, passengers of sweeper flights are only tested upon arrival here.
As to how soon the flights in and out of the DIA can resume, Mayor Inday said the bus and van trips had to be fixed first.
“Nagsulti pud mi nga before i-resume ang commercial flights, ayuson sa ang bus trips ug vans, because kung naa ta’y commercial trips nga moabot ang [mouliay gawas sa Davao City] ma stranded siya sa airport tungod limited ang bus ug vans,” she said. CIO
