(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has already signed the proclamation declaring the state of public health emergency in the country after the Department of Health confirmed four new coronavirus cases, raising the confirmed infections to 10.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, on Monday, March 9, 2020, read Proclamation No. 922 declaring a “state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines”.
In a Malacanang press briefing, Panelo said that the order was signed by the President on Sunday, March 8.
According to the proclamation, the “outbreak of COVID-19 constitutes an emergency that threatens national security which requires a whole-of-government response.”
-DOH chief authorized to call upon PNP in addressing COVID-19 threat-
The proclamation authorizes the DOH Secretary to “call upon the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies to provide assistance in addressing the COVID-19 threat.”
It also enjoins all government agencies and local government units to “render full assistance and cooperation and mobilize necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19 threat.”
The DOH has earlier recommended the declaration of a state of public health emergency on Saturday, March 7, as it confirmed the local transmission of the highly infectious novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It also announced that day the sixth coronavirus case in the country – a 59 year old woman who is the wife of a 62-year old man earlier declared as the first case of local virus transmission.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday, March 7, raised the COVID-19 alert in the country to Code Red Sub-level 1, with the confirmation of the local transmission of the disease.
-4 new coronavirus cases in PHL-
On Sunday night, DOH confirmed four more COVID-19 cases, including two foreigners – a Taiwanese and an American — and two Filipinos, one of whom has a history of travel to Japan.
The seventh case (PH7) is a 38-year-old Taiwanese male who 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 DOH statement said.
The eighth case (PH8) is a 32-year-old Filipino male with history of travel to Japan within the past 14 days. Onset of symptoms began on March 5 and the patient is currently admitted to a private hospital.
The ninth case (PH9) is an 86-year-old American male with pre-existing hypertension and history of travel to USA and South Korea. Symptoms began on 1 March 2020 and the patient is currently admitted to a private hospital, the DOH said.
The 10th case (PH10) is a 57-year-old Filipino male with no history of travel outside of the country.
“He was reported to have had contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, however, DOH is currently investigating details of his exposure. The patient
is currently admitted to a private hospital,” the DOH statement added.
It said that currently, the department’s 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 is 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,” Duque said.
“Upon confirmation of new cases, we immediately deployed additional surveillance teams and commenced contact tracing.”
On Saturday, DOH said that a declaration of a State of Public Health Emergency will “facilitate mobilization of resources, ease processes, including procurement of critical logistics and supplies, and intensifying reporting.”
Duque said that at “this stage of localized transmission,” they are now implementing the following:
– intensified contact tracing and home quarantine of close contacts of confirmed cases;
– improved hospital preparedness;
– enhanced Severe Acute Respiratory Illness surveillance; and
– activation of other laboratories outside of the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) RITM to increase capacity to diagnose cases
“This declaration is a signal to all concerned agencies, Local Government Units and health care providers to be ready to implement planned response measures,” the DOH said after it raised the Code Red sub-level 1 alert.
