The drug rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija is being prepared as possible quarantine site for the returning Filipinos from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the infectious 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV), health officials said Thursday.
“The building is there pero furnishings ata kailangan pa. Siyempre hindi s’ya ginagamit ngayon so kailangan pang ayusin. ‘Yung mga banyo siguro, lilinisin; saka gawin lang habitable ‘yung building,” Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo told reporters.
He said that nurses and doctors will be present in the facility to monitor the returning Filipinos who will undergo quarantine for 14 days.
“Meron lang tayong medical personnel na mag-check kung may lagnat sila, or ubo. Kung kailangan naman ma-opsital, dadalin sila sa ospital. So, magse-set lang naman tayo ng ratio kung ilan nurses and doctors to the patients,” said Domingo.
Health Udersecretary Myrna Cabotaje earlier said that that 42 Filipinos who will be repatriated from China will be brought to the Nueva Ecija drug rehabilitation center.
Meanwhile, Domingo expressed hope that the number of persons under investigation (PUIs) for the nCoV in the country will be contained in one to two months.
“Ito ang nakikita natin siguro baka for the next month, after one month or two, saka makikita natin na bababa ‘yung kaso (PUIs). Wala na tayong entry na nag-travel through China in the last four days na,” he said.
“Pag nakaabot tayo ng 14 days doon, then mas madali na sa atin kasi ang babantayan nalang natin ‘yung mga nandito na sa Pilipinas. Hopefully, unti-unti nang bababa ‘yung PUI natin,” he added.
As of this writing, a total of 133 PUIs for nCoV were recorded by the DoH since they started their monitoring early January. Of the total figure, 115 are admitted and isolated in medical facilities, while 16 have been discharged but under strict monitoring.
Domingo said that the body of the 44-year-old Chinese man, the country’s second confirmed case, remains sealed and in a freezer at the San Lazaro Hospital in Sta. Cruz,
He added that the DoH has already made arrangements to cremate the remains.
The Chinese man, who died last February 1, was the country’s first novel coronavirus related-death. Health officials said that the man died due to severe pneumonia. (Analou de Vera)
