The province of Cebu has begun closing its borders to air and sea travel as a drastic measure to keep out the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-2019).
Cebu Gov. Gwendoline Garcia issued a series of executive orders barring domestic air and sea travel to the province. International travellers are allowed in, but must be quarantined for 14 days in the hotel of their choice.
“They (foreign travellers and visitors) shall be confined in their hotels. If they have relatives in the province, they will come to them and they, too, will be restricted there for 14 days,” Garcia said in a news briefing.
Requiring mandatory isolation are arrivals from Spain, Iran, Italy, China, Macau, Hong Kong and North Gyeongsang province in South Korea — areas where there is an outbreak of Covid-19. Beginning March 16,  plane passengers from Manila and Dumaguete City, Clark, Legazpi and Cagayan de Oro were denied entry to Cebu.
Domestic flights from all other Philippine airports were not allowed to land in Mactan since yesterday. 
Starting today, all ports in Cebu province will be closed to passenger travel.
“As we close our seaports to ingress of passengers, we are not prohibiting Cebuanos to go out of Cebu, but if they go out, they will not be able to come back in 30 days,” said Garcia.
The movement of cargo at the port will not be hampered.
Movie houses, cockpits, gyms, museums, and cultural and sports centres will be closed, while restaurants, cafes and bars will close at 9pm.
“We are looking at a full 30-day mitigation period to ensure that we shall be able to prevent the entry, and hopefully, keep out the coronavirus that is now spreading,” the governor said.
Last Sunday, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella placed the city on community quarantine to control the spread of Covid-19. With the community quarantine, authorities in Cebu hope they could tighten the flow of travellers moving in and out of the city.
Cebu City remained free of the Covid-19 as of Monday.
There will also be a nine-hour curfew, banning the entry of inbound passengers at the city’s ports, according to the executive order guidelines posted on Labella’s Facebook page.
The order also extends the suspension of classes until April 14, bans large gatherings and sets the closing time for commercial establishments at 8pm.
Labella issued another memorandum on Sunday setting a four-day workweek for government personnel.