MANILA, Philippines — The number of persons being checked for suspected novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or 2019-nCoV ARD in the Philippines has increased to 267, the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday.
This is a significant increase from previous data of 215 individuals being probed for the virus.
A recent post from the DOH official Facebook page showed that most of the patients under investigation (PUIs) for possible 2019-nCoV ARD are from Metro Manila with 103 PUIs.
Included in the list of PUIs are the two fatalities who are PUIs for possible nCoV.
The first death of a PUI involved a 29-year-old Chinese who died after battling pneumonia but was negative for the virus.
The second case of PUI death is an individual, whose nationality was not disclosed, also died of pneumonia.
The three confirmed cases of novel coronavirus were also included in the list of patients under probe for the virus.
The DOH said the number of confirmed cases of nCoV remained at three in the Philippines.
The Chinese couple were the first and second confirmed cases in the Philippines. The 38-year-old Chinese woman is currently being isolated at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila while her partner, 44-year-old Chinese man, died of severe pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.
The third case involved a 60-year-old Chinese woman who returned to China after her second set of samples tested negative for nCoV. Her first sample was found positive for the deadly virus after she traveled to China.
Here is the breakdown of the number of PUIs in the Philippines:
- Ilocos – 3
- Cagayan – 9
- Cordillera Administrative Region – 4
- Central Luzon – 36
- Metro Manila – 103
- Calabarzon – 24
- Mimaropa – 4
- Western Visayas – 23
- Central Visayas – 16
- Eastern Visayas – 13
- Northern Mindanao – 11
- Caraga Region – 2
- Davao Region – 18
- Soccsksargen – 1
Total – 267