MANILA, Philippines — Eighty patients are now being monitored for
possible novel coronavirus (2019-
nCoV) infection in the Philippines.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed that 67 patients under investigation (PUIs)
are confined and isolated in various hospitals while
10 have already been discharged but under strict monitoring.
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According to Duque, 30 of the PUIs tested negative for the SARS-like virus but remain under strict monitoring.
The DOH is still waiting for the results of 48 samples.
Last Thursday, the DOH confirmed the first case of the 2019-
nCoV in the Philippines, which is a 38-year-old Chinese woman who arrived in the country last January 21.
The first
nCoV patient is asymptomatic,
which means that she is not showing any signs or symptoms of illness.
The second confirmed patient of the virus in the Philippines is a 44-year-old male companion of the first confirmed carrier of the virus in the country.
The second case is also the first confirmed death
outside China in the virus epidemic that has infected 16,400 people across China and other countries.
The patient passed away on February 1, days after
he was admitted for fever, cough and sore throat. — Patricia Lourdes Viray