A suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) led to the temporary closure of the emergency room of Laguna Doctors Hospital yesterday in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
Patients and health workers inside the emergency room were asked to leave as a sanitation team began disinfecting areas where the patient stayed.
The patient, a 47-year-old overseas Filipino worker who just returned from Saudi Arabia, remains in isolation at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City.
“Meron nag pa-check up doon na galing ng abroad sa UAE. Nagpa-check up sya, may signs and symptoms ng MERS,” said Glenn Ramos, spokesman of the Department of Health in Region 4-A or the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon area and on the phone.
Hospital administrator Debbie Dael said the patient was admitted at around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Dael said hospital workers who attended to the patient were placed in quarantine and allowed only to go home the next day. They were asked to observe themselves in the next two weeks and take Vitamin C pills.
This was confirmed by Eduardo Janairo, DoH Region 4-A director. “Sila ngayon ang binabantayan in any case magkaroon sila ng pneumonia or respiratory disease ay kailangan isolate agad,” Janairo said.
He made it clear that there’s no reason to be alarmed. “Fina-follow up natin kung nakunan na ng specimen para ma-sure natin kung siya ay mayroong MersCov na sakit,” Janairo said.
As soon as the disinfection is completed, the emergency room will be reopened, assured nurse Jaime Domingo Jr. of the hospital’s inspection control unit.
“Ang ginawa lang namin ang infection control measure nang malaman naming ang suspected case,” Domingo said. “What we did was protocol lang, kung ano ba ‘yung ginagawa pag meron tayong suspected infection diseases.
Domingo said they have coordination with proper authorities, including the RITM. “Sa ngayon po, nakapag disinifect na kami ng port of entry nung patient naming, si patient X. After the disinfection ng kuwarto ng ER, ng ex-ray, we will resume normal operation. Magapa-UV light din kami then terminal cleaning,” Domingo said.
The DoH said that people infected with MERS develop severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
It advised individuals to seek medical attention if they experience such symptoms, especially OFWs who are stationed in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.
News spread quickly in the province.
Tricycle driver Erwin Plata said he heard and read on social media that a patient was admitted at Laguna Doctors Hospital.
“Kaya nga po naka mask yung mga tao dito kasi may MERS daw dito sa Sta Cruz,” Plata said. “Nakakatakot po sana maayos agad pero balita namin nililinis na daw ng ospital,” he added.
There are two confirmed MERS cases so far in the country – both in 2015 involving a Filipina nurse and a 36-year-old foreigner.
The World Health Organization said at the end of 2018, 2,279 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS have been recorded globally, including 806 deaths. (With report from Ali Vicoy)