MANILA, Philippines — There are now three patients at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila who are being investigated for possible novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or 2019-nCoV ARD infection after a new patient was admitted on Thursday.
“There are 3 PUIs (persons under investigation) admitted currently at San Lazaro. The two are the couple where we had the first nCoV case and her partner and a new case was admitted yesterday,” Department of Health (DOH) epidemiology bureau head Dr. Ferchito Avelino said in a press briefing on Friday.
As of 12 noon Friday, there are 31 PUIs at the national level on suspicion that they have been infected with the virus.
READ: BREAKING: Patients under investigation for nCoV now at 31
The figure was higher by two compared to the 29 PUIs reported by the DOH on Thursday.
Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said little is known about the two patients who came from China since these are new cases, but he said the two are an American and a Chinese and are in Metro Manila and in Western Visayas.
The Manila City government on Friday donated 6,200 surgical masks to the San Lazaro Hospital after health officials confirmed the Chinese woman who tested positive for the virus is now in isolation at the hospital.
The Manila city government also promised to distribute 500,000 surgical masks to public school students from elementary to college-level after the first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV ARD.
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a temporary travel ban on Chinese nationals from China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan City—the epicenter of the outbreak—is located as well as from other parts of China where cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed.