2 UP faculty members now ‘PUIs’

The University of the Philippines (UP) is imposing stricter health protocols after two of its faculty members were declared patients under investigation (PUIs) for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Tuesday.The university said it was coordinating with the Quezon City Epidemiology Surveillance Unit to monitor the persons who had come in close contact with the two faculty members.

The two submitted to tests at the UP Diliman Health Service (UPHS), a primary hospital on campus, after attending an academic conference in Japan. They were declared PUIs on Tuesday after showing fever and respiratory symptoms, according to the UP Office of Public Affairs. They had been referred to another hospital even as the UPHS premises and its ambulance had been disinfected. Under the new protocols released by UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo on Tuesday, local or international travel and holding big events on campus are prohibited indefinitely.

All campuses within UP system were also instructed by the UP Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to “take stock of the access of their students to devices and the internet” and to use their online-based learning platforms.

Meanwhile, Caloocan City officials on Wednesday confirmed that one of the 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases was confined at Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital. But the patient is a resident of San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan province, Caloocan Rep. Dale Malapitan said.Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said city officials have completed the tracing of people who came in close contact with three COVID-19 patients.“All household contacts of three COVID-19 patients were swabbed and the samples were sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for testing,” she said. —With A report from Meg Adonis