MALACAÑANG reminded Sunday hospitals to be on alert and to always coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) amid the threat of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. issued the statement as the government continues to monitor the situation abroad, particularly in South Korea where over a hundred cases of MERS-CoV have already been reported and in Saudi Arabia where a Filipino worker was reported to have been infected by the illness.
"Ngayon po, sa bahagi naman ng mga private hospital, dapat lang sigurong manatili rin silang alerto at makipag-ugnayan nang tuwiran sa Department of Health. Team effort naman po ang kinakailangan dito," he said over dzRB Radyo Ng Bayan.
He said the government is ready to extend assistance to the Filipinos abroad who might be affected by MERS-CoV.
But he also urged the Filipinos overseas to follow the preventive measure, the infection control protocol and the local health regulations in their respective places.
"Ang DOH ay nagpadala na ng isang pangkat ng mga dalubhasa sa Gitnang Silangan upang tulungan ang DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) na matunton at masubaybayan ang mga Pilipinong nagtatrabaho sa mga pagamutan doon at bigyan sila ng nararapat na tulong o atensyong medikal," Coloma added. (SDR/Sunnex)