Gov’t eases fears over China’s bubonic plague

Filipinos need not worry about the bubonic plague from China because Philippine borders were still closed off to foreigners, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said. Malacañang was taking the health threat seriously, Roque said, “[But] our borders are still closed, so we have nothing to worry about.” Roque made the remarks after authorities closed off tourist spots in Inner Mongolia following the confirmation of a bubonic plague infection there earlier this week. Caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and transmitted through infected animals and fleas, the plague caused the most deadly pandemic in history—the Black Death, which killed 50 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages. “Do not be worried since foreigners are largely not allowed to enter the Philippines, but only on a case-to-case basis,” Roque said in a press brefing. The Bureau of Immigration has estimated that 3.12 million Chinese nationals have entered the country from January 2016 to May 2018.