DOH: Number of PUIs in PH for suspected novel coronavirus now at 23

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines —  The number of patients under investigation (PUIs) for suspected novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV in the Philippines is now at 23, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a press briefing that of the 23 PUIs, most of them are hospitalized in Metro Manila.

“[There are] 17 in NCR, one in Western Visayas, one in Mimaropa, one in Eastern Visayas, two in Central Visayas and one in Davao,” Duque said.

Duque said there are already four patients that have been discharged.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said those who have been discharged tested negative for nCoV and do not have any illness.

“We have four who had been discharged already. They tested negative for nCoV tapos wala na silang sakit (they aren’t sick already),” Domingo said after a press conference in Philippine Blood Center in Quezon City about updates of suspected cases of novel coronavirus.

Domingo said 16 PUIs have pending samples to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa to undergo initial test for suspected coronavirus.

The samples of six other PUIs were sent to Australia for confirmation of novel coronavirus, Domingo said.

Earlier, a Chinese patient, who was one of the PUIs, died due to pneumonia in San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on Wednesday morning. The 29-year-old foreign national’s sample is also being evaluated at the RITM.