Health workers wait to check travelers as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana January 30, 2020. Francis Kokoroko, Reuters

MANILA—Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Saturday expressed disappointment over the government's supposed lack of decisive action to prevent the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from further spreading in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte approved a temporary travel ban only on the Chinese province of Hubei, the center of the epidemic, as he rejected calls to disallow all travelers entering from China.

"If most countries can impose a temporary travel ban on Chinese visitors and those who have recently traveled to China, why can’t we do the same?" Lacson said in a tweet.

"It is the safety of our own citizens that should come first. Simple enough."

If most countries can impose a temporary travel ban on Chinese visitors and those who have recently travelled to China, why can’t we do the same? It is the safety of our own citizens that should come first. Simple enough. — PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) February 1, 2020

Countries such as the United States, Russia and Vietnam have shut out travelers from China to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus in their countries.

Vice-President Leni Robredo and other senators have urged the President to impose a total travel ban on China since patients stricken with 2019-nCoV could cross to other provinces near Hubei, and from there, travel to the Philippines.

The death toll from the outbreak has risen to 259 and the tally of confirmed infections has surged to nearly 12,000, the Chinese government said on Saturday.

—With reports from Agence France-Presse