THE Department of Health (DoH) on Wednesday confirmed that a Chinese national who was monitored on suspicion that he was infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) died at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila. Pneumonia was listed as the cause of his death.
Despite the death, Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd maintained there was yet no confirmed case of 2019-nCoV in the country.
“This morning we have a person under investigation. Hindi pa confirmed for nCoV; namatay (it’s not confirmed if he has nCoV; he died),” Duque said in a press briefing at the Philippine Blood Center in Manila.
San Lazaro Hospital Director Edmundo Lopez said upon admission on Monday, the unidentified 29-year-old patient from Wuhan in China was “frail,” and was found to have cervical lesions, nodules and was positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Duque said specimen collected from the man had been sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), and the test result is expected to be released tomorrow (Thursday).
He said the number of suspected nCoV cases went down to 23 because four patients had been discharged. The Health department is waiting for the report of the RITM on the screening of specimen collected from 16 of the patients.
Duque said authorities were observing 17 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR), two in Central Visayas, one in Western Visayas and one in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marineuque, Romblon and Palawan), one in Eastern Visayas, and one in Davao Region.
President Rodrigo Duterte said the Philippines is preparing for the worst as the deadly nCoV continues to spread worldwide.
The President said the government would mobilize all its resources to prevent the spread of the disease in the country.
“We are just preparing for the worst. We will marshall what we have,” Duterte said in a media interview.
STAY CALM Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ
However, the President said he was not inclined to issue a travel ban.
“(There’s) No transmission from human to human na galing (from) China. There is the slightest possibility that a contamination could occur in the Philippines. Then we will have to take measures,” Duterte said.
“At this time there is no known protocol by which we can follow to combat the disease. But what we can do is to limit the people entering the Philippines. It could include China but at this time, I am not for it. It will not be fair,” he added.
Epidemiology Bureau Director Chito Avelino said an infected person could transmit the virus to 4 individuals through close contact.
Duque gave assurances that hospitals were equipped and prepared to treat patients following strict infection protocol.
Health authorities advised the public to “stay calm but vigilant, always practice hand hygiene, observe proper cough etiquette, avoid close contact with people manifesting those symptoms, with farm and wild animals, cook food properly and adapt a healthy lifestyle.
As the death toll from the virus rose to 132, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) prepared to evacuate Filipinos in Hubei, China.
The DFA on Wednesday said about 50 Filipinos in Hubei province wanted to return home.
“Two private charter airlines are on standby to fly to Hubei to bring our people home upon clearance by Chinese authorities,” DFA Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said on Twitter.
DFA Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez said most of the Filipinos who wanted to return home are from Wuhan City, the epicenter of the nCoV outbreak.
The DFA on Tuesday said it was “ready to repatriate Filipinos in Wuhan City and the rest of Hubei Province who wish to come home.
Upon arrival in the Philippines, they will be quarantined for two weeks.
Meanwhile, the virus continued to spread and kill in China.
Authorities said Wednesday the number of cases in Hubei soared by over 800 from the previous day.
The number of confirmed cases across the country climbed to 5,974, while the death toll nationwide jumped to 132.
All of those new reported deaths were in Hubei except for one, in a province just to the north.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency would dispatch international experts to China “to guide global response efforts.”
“Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHO’s highest priority,” Tedros said.
Japan and Germany then reported the first confirmed human-to-human transmission of the illness outside China. Vietnam is investigating another case.
Germany now has four confirmed cases, all of them employees at a Bavarian firm recently visited by a Chinese colleague, health officials said.
The US asked China on Tuesday to step up its cooperation with international health authorities over the epidemic.
Washington has offered China assistance three times so far without success, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters.
Separately, US health authorities said they were working on a vaccine, but that it would take months to develop.
WITH AFP AND BERNADETTE TAMAYO
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This article first appeared on The Manila Times.
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