DOH reports 2nd suspected 2019-nCoV case in Eastern Visayas

LEYTE. Department of Health officials in Eastern Visayas face the local media on Monday, February 3, to report on the second suspected case of the 2019 novel coronavirus in the region. (Photo by DOH-Eastern Visayas)
LEYTE. Department of Health officials in Eastern Visayas face the local media on Monday, February 3, to report on the second suspected case of the 2019 novel coronavirus in the region. (Photo by DOH-Eastern Visayas)

THE Department of Health (DOH) in Eastern Visayas confirmed on Monday, February 3, the region's second person under investigation (PUI) for the novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).

Dr. Minerva Molon, DOH Eastern Visayas director, said the second PUI is a 30-year-old Filipino woman with history of travel from Hong Kong and Macau last January 21, 2020.

The patient developed symptoms such as cough and sore throat five days after arrival, Molon said.

“Currently, she is now in one of the referral hospitals for 14 days isolation as per guidelines on handling PUI. Samples were collected through nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab for confirmatory test of 2019-nCov ARD in RITM,” said the DOH-Eastern Visayas Center of Health Development.

The DOH, however, said that “all cases were imported, with no evidence of local transmission.”

“The office also assures that all Infection and Prevention Control measures are strictly implemented and followed especially in the isolation area,” it added.

Molon said the first PUI in Eastern Visayas, an American national who traveled to Wuhan, China, was discharged on Saturday, February 1, after 14 days of quarantine. The patient's condition was stable, she added.

Laboratory results from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) also showed that the American national was negative for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars)-coronavirus and 2019-nCoV ARD.

“The PUI already been asymptomatic for a week which the doctor decided to discharge the patient as per advice from RITM and consultants of infectious diseases,” the health department said.

Meanwhile, health officials maintained that its Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) “is in close coordination with concerned agencies, local government units and hospitals to monitor possible more cases in the region.”

“We would like to call the public to refrain [from] sharing and posting of unverified information on social media and urge the public to practice prevention measures such as proper hygiene and observance of cough etiquette,” said Molon in a statement.

Aside from intensifying its information dissemination campaign through health education, the DOH advised the public to get updates through its social media platforms for correct and verified information.

As of February 3, the DOH has monitored a total of 80 PUIs in the Philippines. Two of the 80 are positive cases -- a 38-year-old female and a 44-year-old male, both Chinese nationals from Wuhan.

The 44-year-old, a companion of the first positive case, died on Saturday, February 1, due to severe pneumonia, said the DOH. His death was the first known mortality outside China.

The 2019-nCoV ARD has so far killed 361 people and infected more than 17,300 as of February 3, 2020. (SunStar Philippines)

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