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| Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (FILE PHOTO) |
QUEZON CITY, Feb. 4 (PIA) – The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 80 Patients Under Investigation (PUIs) with 30 cases tested negative and 2 tested positive cases for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as of February 3, 2020.
“Sixty seven (67) of the PUIs are still confined and isolated in various hospitals around the country while ten patients have been discharged but remain under strict monitoring,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said during a briefing Monday.
Along with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the department identified the two confirmed cases including the 38-year-old Chinese female and her companion, 44-year-old Chinese male. The two patients from Wuhan, China were admitted for isolation and treatment at San Lazaro Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
“Both patients arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong to Cebu and Cebu to Dumaguete on January 21. They were onboard from Dumaguete to Manila on January 25," Duque said.
The second confirmed case was admitted for pneumonia after experiencing fever, cough, and sore throat. Due to severe complications, the patient died on February 1 becoming the first recorded death outside China according to World Health Organization (WHO).
“Over the course of the patient’s admission he developed severe pneumonia. In his last few days, the patient was stable and showed signs of improvement. However, the condition of the patient deteriorated within the last 24 hours resulting in his demise,” Duque said.
The increase in the number of PUIs is due to the current contract tracing of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau of the passengers aboard the flights. The department said they have reached out to other passengers and currently in close coordination with the concerned airlines for tracing other places where the patients stayed and traveled to.
Duque said the Philippine Government has already implemented a temporary travel ban for travelers coming from China, Macao, and Hong Kong.
DOH is monitoring every development on the 2019-nCoV very closely and is taking proactive measures to contain the spread of this virus in our country.
“There are no reports of community spread of the virus within the country. I urged the public to practice prevention measures such as proper hand hygiene and observance of cough etiquette," Duque added.
Duque assured that DOH hospitals are equipped and capable of handling infectious cases at the same time following strict infection protocols to manage PUIs. (PIA-NCR)
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