(Eagle News) – The Department of Health has assured the public that there is still no positive coronavirus case in the country.
This is even as at least 8 persons, including a Chinese couple who came from Wuhan and another Chinese national from Hubei province, who were considered as PUIs or persons under investigation for the disease.
Health Secretary Francisco III said earlier that at least 11 persons suspected to have the virus were tested and monitored in various hospitals in the country, but that some of them have already been discharged.
The DOH said these cases were recorded from January 12 to 16 as reported by hospitals in Metro Manila, Kalibo in Aklan, Tacloban in Leyte, El Nido in Palawan, Cebu City and Camiguin.
The latest of the cases were those of a Chinese couple who came from Wuhan, in Hubei province in China who have gone to the San Lazaro Hospital for check-up and were admitted since Friday.
-Swab samples sent for confirmatory tests to RITM and Australia-
San Lazaro Hospital spokesperson Dr. Ferdinand de Guzman said that although only the man had exhibited flu-like symptoms, both the man and the worman had been admitted for monitoring.
Another Chinese national from Hubei was also being monitored in the same hospital.
Nose and throat swabs have been taken from the three Chinese patients and were already sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for testing and also to Australia for confirmatory testing.
Results are expected on Wednesday or Thursday.
The persons considered as PUIs include persons of various nationalities who have had travel history in Wuhan, China which is the epicenter of the deadly virus that is causing a global scare.
Some of them, however, had already been released or pending release after confirmatory tests showed they are negative for the virus, according to the DOH.
They include a five-year old Chinese boy in Cebu City, the Brazilian and Taiwanese children who have been treated in Palawan, and a 29-year old man who was treated in a Camiguin hospital.
“What we know is that the one in Cebu, the five-year-old has been discharged already. And there are some who are in the process of being released now,” said DOH Epidemiology Bureau officer-in-charge Chito Avelino in a media briefing in Malacañang.
-DOH closely working with WHO, Chinese CDC-
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III meanwhile said that the public should still not be alarmed in the areas where DOH said had persons under investigation for the various.
He also reassured the public that the necessary precautionary measures against the 2019-nCoV are being taken by the government.
He also emphasized that the government is working with the World Health Organization and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the next course of action.
“There shouldn’t be any cause for alarm just because we flashed the areas where the PUIs come from, doesn’t meant that those areas are infected with the novel coronavirus. Because there is none,” Duque said.
“Maniwala po kayo sa inyong Department of Health dahil na nakikipag-ugnayan oras-oras sa World Health Organization (WHO). Mayroon po tayong country representative – si Dr. Rabi Abeyashinghe. Siya po ang ating tulay sa gitna ng DOH at ng Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Chinese Ministry of Health,” he said in a statement.
“DOH reiterates that, to date, there are no confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines,” a department statement said.
“DOH also calls on the public to be responsible, and refrain from sharing unverified information on the 2019-nCoV Health Event. DOH is on top of the issue, and will regularly update the public through its official channels,” it added.
