MANILA, Philippines — A 40-year-old Japanese national, who reportedly traveled from the Philippines, tested positive for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as reports of infected foreigners who flew from the country continue to increase, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.
Health Assistant Maria Rosario Vergeire mentioned this reported new case over CNN Philippines but noted that the country’s health department is still verifying the said information.
“There was this report from yesterday that there was this Japanese man, apparently in his 40s, that tested positive (for COVID-19) that has visited the Philippines. Information is being completed as we speak,” she said when asked about reports of foreigners claiming to have gone to the Philippines and later tested positive for the fatal disease.
On Thursday, two foreigners — 60-year-old woman in Australia and a 30-year-old Taiwanese — who reportedly flew from the Philippines, also tested positive for COVID-19.
The health official, however, said DOH has no complete information if the infected foreign nationals contracted the disease in the Philippines.
“For now, as soon as we got the information yesterday, we started coordinating with the ministries of health of these specific nations. For now, we have we started with what he have now to do tracing and to do investigation,” Vergeire said.
Records from the DOH website showed that more than 90,000 people worldwide have contracted COVID-19, mostly from China.
In the Philippines, so far 3 people have been confirmed positive of the virus, also all Chinese nationals.