More than half of Etihad passengers test negative for MERS-CoV
MANILA, Philippines — The government has yet to complete the tracking of the 414 passengers of an Etihad Airways flight who have been urged to be tested for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Malacañang said on Wednesday.
Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. said that according to the Department of Health (DOH), only 43 out of 414 have not been contacted as of this time.
Of this number, 325 passengers of 80 percent have been contacted while 46 passengers are still undergoing contact tracing.
Out of the 325 passengers, 252 have undergone nose and throat swabbing, with 221 passengers having tested negative. The swab results of the 31 other passengers have yet to be released.
Despite these highly encouraging results, Coloma is urging Filipino citizens to remain vigilant, and to heed preventive measures and quarantine procedures of our health authorities.
"Travelers returning from the Middle East are advised to fill out the quarantine forms providing detailed contact information to facilitate subsequent tracing if needed," Coloma said.
He added that those who become ill within two weeks upon arrival are strongly advised to delay visits to crowded places.
Coloma said these people should instead seek immediate medical attention from all public hospitals or any medical facility accredited by the DOH.
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