MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Saturday confirmed that the employee of Bonifacio Global City-based consulting firm Deloitte Philippines who is receiving treatment for Coronavirus Disease 2019 is one of the two new cases of infection announced on Friday.
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The Health Department on Friday announced two new cases of COVID-19 infection, bringing the previous count of three cases to five.
In a text message to Philstar.com, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the employee is already accounted for in the current tally of five confirmed cases.
The fourth case was said to be a 48-year-old male Filipino with travel history to Japan — which has recorded at least 349 cases and six total deaths, according to the latest situational report from the World Health Organization.
However, the Health Department has yet to confirm if the Deloitte employee is indeed the fourth case, who Duque previously said returned to the Philippines on February 25 and experienced symptoms like chills and fever starting March 3 before testing positive for the virus on March 5.
“He is currently stable and admitted in the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine,” Duque said previously.
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Philstar.com has attempted to reach Duque for additional clarification but he has not responded as of writing.
Meanwhile, another DOH official on Saturday said that the Deloitte employee case is still not confirmed to be part of the standing infection count.
"We still need to verify. Titingnan datos natin at saka 'yung kabuuang detalye ng pasyente na mayroon tayo ngayon kung talagang doon siya nanggaling na opisina (We will check our data as well as the patient’s complete details to verify if they indeed came from Deloitte)," Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an ABS-CBN News report.