(Eagle News) — The Department of Health on Saturday, March 7, confirmed the sixth case of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country — the wife of the fifth COVID-19 case who has no previous travel history outside the country — and confirmed that there is now a local transmission of the disease.
In a press briefing, the sixth case was identified as the 59-year old wife of the 62-year old Filipino who frequented a Muslim prayer hall in Greenhills, San Juan City. The fifth case is the “first case of local transmission in the country,” announced Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday.
The DOH chief also raised the COVID-19 alert in the country to Code Red Sub-level 1, with the confirmation of the local transmission of the disease.
-DOH recommends declaration of state of public health emergency-
He said that he had also recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the declaration for a state of public health emergency in the country to enable heightened contact tracing of those who may have had interaction with the latest three confirmed local cases so far.
Duque said that the action of raising the COVID-19 alert to Code Red Sub-level 1 is a “preemptive call” to alert all concerned, including national and local governments and public and private health care providers for a “possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases” of COVID-19.
The fourth case is a 48-year-old male Filipino with travel history to Japan.
Duque confirmed that this is the employee of DeLoitte Philippines based in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. Upon further inquiry, the DOH also found out that this employee also continued to work for one day even as he presented cough symptoms. He reportedly conducted a meeting at his office.
-Sixth case in stable condition at RITM-
The DOH chief said that the sixth case, the wife of the fifth patient, is already admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on March 5, along with the two other confirmed cases.
“The wife tested positive for COVID-19 after contact tracing activities,” Duque said. “This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to six.”
“The patient is currently in stable condition,” he added.
He said that the government is now exhausting all efforts to identify those who may have had interaction with the confirmed cases, as well as the three foreign tourists who travelled in the country and tested positive for COVID-19 upon their return to their home countries.
Duque said that he recommended the “public health emergency” in the country “to make sure that this localized transmission does not continue to community sread.”
He assured that so far, 81 percent of COVID-19 cases are mild diseases, and about 14 percent appear to progress to severe disease. Only five percent are critical cases, Duque said.
The DOH said that fourth case, the 48-year old male, is “just having mild respiratory symptoms.”
But the fifth case, the 62-year old male, is in a “guarded condition” since he has severe pneumonia, diabetes, and also has recently found to have acute kidney injury.
Duque said that this means he is in a critical condition.
The health chief also called out Cardinal Santos Medical Center where the fourth case was first hospitalized. He said that hospital officials initially requested the DOH not to disclose the name of the hospital in its press briefing yesterday, Friday, March 6. But Duque later found out that the hospital itself gave information to the media that it is the hospital where the fourth case had been admitted.
