84 percent of patients observed for COVID-19 test negative for infection

MANILA, Philippines — Eighty-four percent of patients under investigation (PUIs) for COVID-19 have tested negative for the deadly virus, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

Of the 455 PUIs as of Friday, 386 have already tested negative for the virus, including 259 who have already been discharged.

“We are glad that most of our patients under investigation tested negative for nCoV. While this is very welcome news, we at the DOH will continue our preparations for the possibility of local transmission,” DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

Two consecutive tests that yield negative results for the virus are needed before PUIs can be discharged from isolation in hospitals, said Vergeire.

Vergeire also revealed that a 25-year-old woman who was repatriated from Wuhan in China’s Hubei province—the ground zero of the outbreak—was admitted on Thursday to the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in Pampanga after experiencing fever and ear pain.

“The patient has tested negative for the 2019-nCoV (COVID-19) and was managed as a case of outer ear infection,” she said.

She was brought back to the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac to complete the 14-day quarantine for Filipinos repatriated from Wuhan.

Vergeire also said a 25-year-old female repatriate will be referred to the Bataan General Hospital on Friday for further evaluation after experiencing “anxiety-related symptoms.”

The rest of the repatriates from Wuhan meanwhile are not showing signs of infection to the virus, according to the health official.

Edited by MUF