MANILA, Philippines — Reacting to various posts on social media that the dreaded novel coronavirus (nCov) had reached the city, Pasay Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano quashed the rumor, dismissing it as “fake news.”
A Facebook post which earlier went viral claimed that officials in Barangay 44 had gone around the area, announcing that a case of nCov, also called 2019-nCoV, had been reported in the city with Pasay City General Hospital (PCGH) subsequently placed on lockdown.
“It is very important for all of us, especially amid the heightened concern about the coronavirus cases in China, to be very careful in posting unverified information about this, more so, in sharing such information, especially those that could mislead the public,” Rubiano said in a statement issued over the weekend.
“Those [posts] are not true,” PCGH head Dr. Lou Ocampo also said in her report to the mayor. “We have our own infection control committee with adult and pedia specialists as members that continuously monitor this situation as well as all other infections that might reach Pasay.”
The nCoV scare came just two weeks after the hospital was decontaminated when it admitted a patient for suspected meningococcemia. The city, however, assured residents that there was no outbreak of the deadly bacterial disease.
The city health office (CHO) also assured the public that it was prepared to respond to nCoV should a case be reported in Pasay.
According to CHO head Dr. Cesar Encinares, the medical personnel of PCGH, the Philippine Air Force General Hospital, San Juan de Dios Hospital, and Adventist Medical Center Manila, as well as the city’s 13 health centers, were ready to take care of patients suspected of contracting the disease.
The CHO had also provided protective equipment such as face masks and gloves to health workers.
According to Rubiano, CHO officials were in close coordination with members of the Bureau of Quarantine at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), as well as the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, to monitor passengers arriving at the airport.
“This is a serious disease so we are reminding everyone to be watchful and make it a habit to keep our body clean as well as our surroundings. Let’s help each other to prevent this disease from spreading,” she said.
Encinares, for his part, advised the public to observe proper hygiene. “Wash your hands, avoid contact with animals, and cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough. Avoid people with cold symptoms, drink lots of water and make sure your food is properly cooked. Go to the health centers immediately if you have cough and cold symptoms,” he said.
Besides being home to NAIA, Pasay also hosts numerous Philippine offshore gaming operator companies and their service providers—particularly in the Newport City and Bay City areas—whose employees are mostly Chinese.
The virus originated from Wuhan in China, with over 1,300 people infected, mostly Chinese. There have been 41 deaths so far. Confirmed cases have been reported in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France, the United States, and Australia. According to the Department of Health, there are still no confirmed nCov cases in the country.
People who contracted the virus experience a range of symptoms such as fever, flu-like symptoms (coughing, sore throat, and headache) and difficulty in breathing. INQ