Patients under probe for new coronavirus now at 215

MANILA, Philippines — The number of patients under investigation (PUIs) by health officials due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has climbed to a total of 215 persons, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said that as of 12 noon Friday, out of the 215 PUIs, 57 tested negative for 2019-nCoV, while the DOH is still waiting for the results of the other 155 patients.

A total of 184 PUIs were admitted and isolated, nine refused admission but remains under strict monitoring, 17 have been discharged and two have died of other causes.

One of the PUI deaths was recorded on Thursday.

It was due to pneumonia and not 2019-nCov, Domingo noted, stressing that the patient had “underlying restrictive lung disease.”

Currently, authorities confirmed three cases of nCoV in the country. The first two cases were a Chinese couple who traveled to the country from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. The man died on Feb. 1, the first nCoV death outside China.

The third case, meanwhile, was a 60-year-old Chinese woman who arrived in Cebu City from Wuhan via Hong Kong on Jan. 20.

As of posting time, the new coronavirus strain has so far killed over 600 people, mostly in China, and infected over 30,000 others from several countries.