TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – Department of Health (DOH) Sec. Francisco Duque announced that as of yesterday, 1 February 2020, 24 patients under investigation tested negative for 2019-nCoV, while 2 tested positive.
Duque said that a 44-year-old male is confirmed as the second person with the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines. He passed away yesterday, February 1, 2020.
“There are now two confirmed cases of 2019 nCov in the Philippines.The 1st confirmed case and the 2nd confirmed case are close contacts. Both are known residents of Wuhan, China”, DOH officials said.
Meanwhile, the 44-year-old male experienced symptoms like fever, cough and sore throat before being admitted at San Lazaro Hospital.
Duque said there are mixed pathogens in the 44-year-old male including Streptococcus pneumoniae and viral influenza type b.
World Health Organization (WHO) representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that this is the first death outside China. “Although it is the first case, we need to keep in mind that he came from Wuhan, China”, he said.
San Lazaro Hospital and the DOH assured that infection prevention and control measures are in place, including personal protective equipment to health workers. DOH is also and rapidly identifying those who may have come into close contact with the cases.
So far, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has imposed a temporary travel ban for travelers coming from China, Macau and Hong Kong.
Duque said that the DOH is monitoring every development on the 2019 nCoV very closely and is taking proactive measures to contain the spread of this virus in our country. “We are providing the public with constant updates and advisories as frequently as possible so all I ask to public now is to heed the advisories from official DOH channel and to refrain from sharing unverified and unvalidated information. I assure the public that we will keep you abreast of any information that we have”, he added.
Currently there are no reports of community spread of the virus within the country.
However, the public is still reminded to take pre-cautionary measures when if needed.
