By ANALOU DE VERA
The Department of Health (DoH) reported on Sunday that another Filipino in Singapore tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), bringing the total number of infected overseas Filipinos to 86.
Citing data from the International Health Regulation, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the new case involved a 41-year-old Filipina.
“Sa ngayon naka-admit s’ya sa isang hospital sa Singapore at binabantayan. She’s in stable condition,” Vergeire said in a television interview.
Last Feb. 23, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported the first Filipino who tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore.
Of the overall figure of infected Filipinos outside the Philippines, 80 of them were from the M/V Diamond Princess cruise ship, said Vergeire.
Sixty-four of them remain admitted in the different medical facilities in Japan while the 16 others have already recovered and were discharged.
The Health official added that two Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates have contracted the disease, two in Hong Kong, and two in Singapore.
The DoH last Friday assured that the Philippine government “remains at their service and would devotedly extend assistance.”
In a related development, Vergeire said that 10 repatriates from the M/V Diamond Princess cruise ship, who are in quarantine at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac have shown symptoms of respiratory illness. However, seven of them have tested negative for COVID-19. The test results of the three others remain pending.
There are 458 Filipinos currently quarantined at the Athlete’s Village in NCC, including the 13 members of the Philippine repatriation team.
“Ang lahat ng NCC repatriates na nanggaling sa M/V Diamond Princess bago sila bumaba o nag-disembark sa barko from Japan ay tinest sila lahat. Sila lahat ay nagnegatibo…So ngayon ang protocol natin sa NCC quarantine facility kapag sila ay magkakasintomas, that’s the time na dadalhin sila sa referral hospital at ite-test,” said Vergeire.