(Eagle News)–The Department of Health announced on Sunday, March 8, four new confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the total to ten.
In a statement, the DOH said the seventh case was a 38-year-old Taiwanese male, the eighth a 32-year-old Filipino male with history of travel to Japan within the last 14 days, the 9th an 86-year-old American male with pre-existing hypertension and history of travel to USA and South Korea, and the tenth a 57-year-old Filipino male with no history of travel outside of the country but was reported to have had contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case.
According to the DOH, samples from all the new confirmed cases were tested yesterday, March 7, and all results were released today.
The DOH said the seventh case has a history of contact with a Taiwanese foreign national who visited the Philippines and tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan.
The patient has no history of travel outside of the country and his symptoms started last March 3. He is currently admitted to a private hospital.
The 8th case on the other hand showed symptoms on March 5 and the patient is currently admitted to a private hospital.
The 9th case’s symptoms began on March 1 and the patient is currently admitted to a private hospital.
The details of the exposure of the 10th case are currently being probed.
The patient is currently admitted to a private hospital.
The DOH said it is currently in coordination with concerned Local Government Units and the Centers for Health Development for “localized response and implementation of infection prevention and control measures.”
“Currently, the Epidemiology Bureau is gathering more information and validating available data on the reported cases. DOH will release all pertinent information to the public once it is available,” the DOH said.
It added it was “committed to accurate and timely reporting of verified information on the COVID-19 health situation.”
“We have been preparing for the possibility of localized transmission in the country. Now that there are confirmed cases of localized transmission, DOH and the Inter-agency Task Force are now implementing pre-planned measures to respond to the situation,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said, noting that upon confirmation of new cases, the DOH immediately deployed additional surveillance teams and commenced contact tracing.
He called on the public to “continue to be vigilant and practice personal preventive measures such as proper hand hygiene, social distancing, and cough etiquette.”
“The DOH is exhausting all its efforts to contain the spread COVID-19. I am calling for your cooperation in this trying time, only through concerted effort at the community level will we be able to succeed against the threat of the disease,” Duque added.
Earlier, the DOH confirmed six cases in the country, one of which was a confirmed local transmission.
