American who came from Wuhan recovering in Tacloban hospital

TACLOBAN CITY –– The 36-year-old American who arrived from Wuhan City, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, is recovering well, health officials here said.

Physicians are monitoring and observing the American, who is confined at a government-owned hospital, said John Paul Roca, information officer of the Department of Health in Eastern Visayas (DOH-8).

“(The) patient has no episodes of fever, although he has an occasional, non-productive cough; just like an ordinary cough or fever. The only difference is that he came from Wuhan City,” Roca said.

The DOH has tagged the man as a “suspect case” of nCoV because he had fever and cough when he arrived in Tacloban City, Leyte from Wuhan, where he worked.

Roca said the man would be confined in the hospital for 14 days or until Feb. 2 since the incubation period of the virus is 14 days.

If the results turn out negative of nCoV, the man would be
discharged from the hospital.

Roca said the physicians were scheduled to take swab tests
on the patient on Saturday. The specimen would then be brought to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila for the confirmatory result.

They expect the result within 48 hours, Roca said.

The American arrived in Tacloban on Jan. 16 from Wuhan City to see his girlfriend and her family.

The next day, the man developed a fever and was coughing. He was immediately brought to a hospital where he was placed in isolation.

Roca said the people who had contact with the American before his hospitalization had undergone “self-quarantine” or were just staying in their homes as part of a precautionary measure.

He, however, said that these people had not shown any symptoms of the virus.

“And if they show some of the symptoms, they should immediately contact us so we can bring them to the hospital,” Roca said./lzb