DFA: Filipina nurse with MERS in Saudi shows improvement

MANILA, Philippines - The Filipina nurse who contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia showed improvement after several days of treatment, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

The patient works at a hospital in Jeddah and was infected two weeks ago.

The DFA refused to reveal the identity of the Filipina nurse.

“After several days of treatment in the ICU, the patient showed good improvement and was unhooked from the mechanical ventilator a few days ago and already breathing on her own,” the DFA said in a statement.

The Filipina nurse will be transferred from the intensive care unit to an isolation room in a few days.

Last month, two Filipino nurses were discharged from the intensive care unit of a hospital in Saudi Arabia after recuperating from MERS-CoV.

Ten Filipinos, mostly health workers, have died from the disease in the region since 2013.