By ANALOU DE VERA * ARGYLL GEDUCOS
The Department of Health (DoH) said Monday that eight individuals who had close contact with the country’s two confirmed cases of 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD) is now being monitored after they exhibited flu-like symptoms.
DoH-Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Ferchito Avelino said that the eight individuals are now included in their list of Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) for the new virus.
Avelino said that the eight – four hotel staff and four plane passengers – manifested “fever and cough.”
The Health official added that they also located 66 other individuals who had close contact with the two confirmed cases. They are not yet identified as PUIs but were advised to do home quarantine.
“Gusto namin linawin na ang home quarantine na sinasabi natin ay ito po ay parang isolation lang din sa loob ng bahay, ibig sabihin wala silang privilege na makipaghalubilo sa miyembro ng kanilang pamilya habang binabantayan po sila sa loob ng 14 days,” said Avelino in a press briefing at the DoH-Central Office in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
“It is important therefore that contacts should come forward and inform a health provider and undergo 14 days quarantine and once they have developed any manifestations of illness, seek medical attention (or) care and inform health provider of their travel and or exposure,” he added.
Health officials assured that there still no local transmission of 2019-nCoV ARD in the country yet.
“It is very clear and I categorically state that the two cases are imported cases and the statistics are for China. For us, it is zero local transmission,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
The DoH started conducting the contact tracing last January 30 after they recorded the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in the country – a 38-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, China.
Health officials on Sunday announced that the companion of the first confirmed case – a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, China – was also found positive for the novel coronavirus and eventually died at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
As of Monday, the DoH recorded a total of 80 PUIs for 2019-nCoV since the start of their monitoring.
“Of the 80 PUIs, 67 are currently admitted and isolated, while 10 have been discharged under strict monitoring. DoH has also reported one PUI mortality with a negative result and two confirmed cases with one mortality,” said Duque.
“This substantial increase in the number of PUIs is due to the strengthened surveillance system and contact tracing of the Epidemiology Bureau,” he added.
FIRST DEATH
Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo said that the 2019 nCoV ARD confirmatory test on the 44-year-old fatality was done by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
“He has not been tested previously. This is only from the first test done to him by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine,” he said.
Domingo said that the samples of the first confirmed case were sent to the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.
When asked why the samples of the 44-year-old man was not sent to Australia considering that he was together with the 38-year-old Chinese woman, Domingo said that they “prioritize” the latter.
“In the preliminary test, it showed virus that is possibly coronavirus. So it (prioritization) was not based on clinical manifestation. It was based on laboratory results,” said Domingo.
GOOD PH MEASURES
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it is satisfied with how the Philippine government responded to the threat of the 2019-nCoV ARD, saying it will continue to assist the country to better manage the cases of the disease.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, WHO Philippines Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe commended the actions taken by the Philippine government to strengthen its preparations and to build its capacity to detect cases.
“I believe that the Philippine government has been responding to an evolving situation. As I mentioned, this is a new situation, an evolving situation, and with the emergence of disease and the emergence of more information, the government response has been proactively strengthened,” he said.
“We are satisfied so far with the measures implemented by the government of the Philippines. And we are continuing to work with them to increase their preparedness in case there are further importations or there is evidence of local transmission,” he added.
President Duterte on Sunday ordered the entry ban on all nationalities, except Filipinos and permanent resident visa holders, to the Philippines travelling from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
However, the government has been criticized because of its late implementation of the travel ban since it was only made after the DoH confirmed the first case of the virus.
On Sunday, the DoH confirmed that another patient tested positive for the virus but reported that he had already died. This was the first nCoV death reported outside China.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, during the same press briefing, said that the government was not late in its response, adding that the government’s decisions were methodical.
“It’s not late. In fact, very timely ang decision ng gobyerno. Again, we follow also the directives and also the recommendation from the World Health Organization, the Department of Health,” he said.
Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval likewise said the government’s response was not belated, adding that the BI also made enough actions to contain the virus.
