CEBU CITY -- Health authorities have allowed a Cebuana to stay at home after she tested negative for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (Mers-CoV).
The patient from Cebu City boarded the Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 860 with the Filipina nurse who tested positive for Mers-CoV upon arriving in the Philippines from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Department of Health-Central Visayas Director Jaime Bernadas said the results on the Cebuana came out Friday after samples were obtained from her the night before.
Dr. Dino Caing, Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Resu) chief, said the woman did not display primary symptoms of Mers-CoV such as fever, cough, and pneumonia, but they would continue observing her.
“She will still be monitored and will be subject for follow up even if asymptomatic,” Caing said.
The woman is also prohibited from joining social gatherings to reduce the risk of her spreading the virus.
Meanwhile, the DOH 7 said they still have to locate an Italian tourist who is also considered a person under investigation (PUI).
As of this posting, health authorities have sought the help of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in checking if the Italian tourist, a fellow airplane passenger of the Filipina nurse, has left the country or not as well as to trace the places in the country the foreign national had been to.
The hotel contact number that the tourist declared in the checklist of the Bureau of Quarantine could not be reached, Regional Epidemiologist Rennan Cimafranca said.
They found out that the hotel matched two establishments with a similar name and that they learned the foreign PUI has already checked out last February 5 after checking in on February 1. (PNA)