DOH monitoring 24 patients for suspected novel coronavirus

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday that the Philippines have 24 patients under investigation (PUIs) for the suspected novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.

In a press conference, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III initially said they are monitoring 22 PUIs for the 2019-nCoV.

But as of 1:30 p.m., Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said that an additional five PUIs were reported in the National Capital Region.

“As of 1:30 p.m. [an] additional five PUIs are in Metro Manila PUIs. We have now 27 persons under investigation in the Philippines,” Domingo said at the press conference.

Domingo then clarified that of the 22 PUIs, three patients have already been discharged.

He said the locations of the discharged patients were not disclosed for their “security.”

Domingo also noted that most of the PUIs are from China, where most of the confirmed cases of novel coronavirus had been recorded.

“There are no Filipino nationals at this time. Most of them are Chinese nationals,” Domingo said when asked about the nationalities of the PUIs.

The Health Department said 13 samples have been delivered to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa for screening which is an initial test to verify if the samples are positive for non-specific pancoronavirus assay.

Meanwhile, over six laboratory results, which tested positive for an unidentified pancoronavirus, were sent to the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Australia to identify the specific coronavirus strain.

Quoting Chinese authorities, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, World Health Organization representative in the Philippines, said there are over 4,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in China. Of which,106 have ended in deaths.

Edited by MUF