DOH: No test results yet on sample taken from Chinese boy suspected with 2019-nCoV

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said it has yet to receive the results of the test made on the specimen taken from a five-year-old Chinese boy, who was suspected of carrying a new strain of coronavirus.

“The Department of Health wishes to clarify that it is yet to receive the confirmatory results for the 5-year-old boy under investigation for 2019-nCOV. As such, the child will remain as a person under investigation,” the agency said in a statement.

Earlier, DOH said that while the boy, who traveled from Wuhan, China, to Cebu City, tested negative for the severe Middle Eastern Related Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-cov) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (SARS), he tested positive for a “non-specific pancoronavirus.”

This prompted DOH to send a sample taken from the boy to an Australian laboratory to identify what strain of coronavirus affected the child.

A new strain of coronavirus, called novel coronavirus or 2019-nCOV, has been afflicting China, specifically the City of Wuhan, where the disease originated. The new coronavirus has so far infected at least 500 people and that 17 people have already died from it.

The Chinese boy is now in stable condition in Cebu City, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Edited by KGA