Talk of the shoe being on the other foot.
Crew members of a tugboat that arrived Dumaguete from China last Wednesday got a big scare when their boat was about to be boarded by members of Dumaguete’s Task Force novel Coronavirus, fearing the Dumagueteños could themselves be bringing the virus with them into their boat.
The crew members had manned a newly-acquired tugboat from China, and were taking it, along with two empty barges, to its new owner in Leyte.
They passed by Dumaguete, which was on alert due to the positive identification of two of its recent visitors to the novel CoronaVirus.
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Upon learning that the tugboat came from China, Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo prohibited the crewmen from disembarking at the port.
The task force instead decided to go meet them and board the vessel.
Members of the task force included the Bureau of Quarantine, the City Health Office, and the Provincial Health Office.
The crewmen initially objected to the presence of the Dumaguete officials, fearing that they would be carriers of the virus.
Realizing that they could not stop the members of the Dumaguete anti- coronavirus task force from boarding the ship, they allowed them in, and gave in to be tested. They were found negative for any coronavirus symptoms. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)