3 Pinay workers get MERS in Saudi

MANILA, Philippines - Three female healthcare personnel in Saudi Arabia have contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed yesterday.

“The three Filipinos work as healthcare personnel in various hospitals in Saudi Arabia and were recently exposed to MERS patients. We will immediately get in touch with their next of kin to inform them of any developments,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told reporters.

The three overseas Filipino 8workers (OFWs) are now in quarantine and receiving treatment.

The DFA said the 56-year-old nurse assigned at the emergency room is isolated in the hospital staff housing. The respiratory technician is undergoing medical tests, while the other nurse, assigned at the oncology section, is confined in another hospital.

The DFA has withheld the identities of the three OFWs pending notification of their families. The names of the hospitals where the three Filipino healthcare personnel are working were also not disclosed, leaving to the Saudi government the conduct of the initial investigation.

The Department of Health (DOH) will send a team of disease experts to Saudi Arabia to check on the conditions of the three Filipino healthcare personnel and other OFWs who may have contracted MERS-CoV.

Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin said yesterday the team is composed of disease experts from the DOH and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the country’s referral center for infectious diseases. The team, to be led by Nestor Santiago, DOH regional director for Calabarzon, will be leaving anytime.

The DOH intends to make sure that all OFWs are aware about MERS-CoV, how they can protect themselves against the virus and where they should go if they are infected.

The DOH is also coordinating with the DFA to identify the health facilities that have Filipino patients.

The Department of Labor and Employment said that since many OFWs will be coming home in the coming weeks to spend their vacation or attend the graduation of their children, health protocols are in place to prevent the possible spread of MERS-COV in the country.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the DOH through the DFA may also have to coordinate with the Saudi Ministry of Health to ensure that all returning workers will undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine before their return to the Philippines. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Mayen Jaymalin