DOH now monitoring 31 patients for nCov

MANILA, Philippines — Two more foreigners who came from Wuhan City have been placed in isolation at separate hospitals in the Philippines, raising the number of patients being monitored by health authorities for the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) to 31 as of yesterday.

But the Department of Health (DOH) clarified there is still only one confirmed case of the new virus in the country since the outbreak started in China late last year.

DOH director for Epidemiology Bureau Ferchito Avelino identified the two new persons under investigation (PUIs) as a Chinese national and an American citizen who arrived in the country separately.

Avelino told The STAR that the two were placed in hospital isolation in different regions after seeking consultation for fever and cough.  

Out of the 31 patients being monitored by the DOH, 25 are currently admitted in hospitals, including the country’s first confirmed nCoV case – a 38-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan.

One other suspected nCoV case is the 29-year-old man from Yunnan, China who died of complications from pneumonia at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila last Wednesday.

The other five patients have been discharged in improved health.

Prior to the announcement of these two new suspected cases, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there were 18 PUIs in Metro Manila; four in Central Visayas; three in Western Visayas; one in Region 4-B (Mimaropa); one in Eastern Visayas; one in Northern Mindanao and one in Davao.

It’s now

‘2019-nCoV ARD’

The DOH said yesterday it is closely coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO), which has now officially labeled the Wuhan virus as the novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or “2019-nCoV ARD.”

With one confirmed case of the nCoV in the Philippines, Avelino said efforts are continuing to trace the patient’s travel and human contact history in the country.

The patient and her companion from Wuhan are in separate isolation rooms at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.

The DOH said it is tracking down those who came in contact with the two in the cities of Dumaguete and Cebu which they visited as tourists.  

The two took a Cebu Pacific (CEB) flight to the Philippines from Hong Kong on Jan. 21; then took a Cebgo flight from Cebu to Dumaguete on Jan. 22; and finally a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Dumaguete to Manila on Jan. 25.

Both Cebu Pacific and PAL issued statements saying they are working closely with the DOH and the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) on the necessary actions and safety protocols after catering to the passengers.

Among these are allowing the BOQ to take charge of placing the concerned passengers and crew under medical observation.

These passengers and crew members are being guided to take the necessary precautions and advised on flu-like symptoms if there is a need for the BOQ to contact them.

CEB said the aircraft used for the flights have been undergoing thorough disinfection and new precautionary measures for flights are now in place.?For its part, PAL announced that it is cutting by half the frequency of its flights between Manila and destinations in China beginning today.

Prior to this decision, the country’s flag carrier had been operating 69 flights to and from China every week. Among these flight destinations are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Fujian and Xiamen.

Couple from Boracay

Meanwhile, among the patients being monitored by the DOH who had flight travel history within the Philippines is a Chinese couple who arrived in Manila from Boracay last Thursday.

The couple took the Air Asia flight Z2-712 from Kalibo, Aklan and arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 4 at 1:34 p.m. of Jan. 30.?Since the couple had high fever, they were taken from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 for medical examination and then transferred by ambulance to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

As of last night, Air Asia had not issued a statement on the incident.

No nCoV in East Visayas

Meanwhile, the DOH Region 8 office said the patient in its custody since Jan. 25 was found to be negative of the coronavirus.

“In a circular, officials of the DOH-8 said that after a series of tests conducted on the PUI, it was confirmed that there was still no case of nCoV infection in Tacloban City and in Eastern Visayas. – With Rudy Santos, Miriam Desacada