EIGHT persons who have come into “close contact” with the Chinese couple that have tested positive for the novel coronavirus are now considered as persons under investigation (PUIs) by the Department of Health (DOH).
The eight — four hotel staff and four plane passengers — are among 74 persons who have been identified as having been in the same planes taken by the Chinese couple and the hotels where they stayed while they were in Cebu and Dumaguete City.
In a press conference, DOH Epidemiology Bureau (EB) Director Dr. Ferchito Avelino said the eight PUIs have manifested fever and cough and are confined in hospitals.
The 66 others, he said, have been advised to undergo “home quarantine,” which means they should isolate themselves for 14 days.
“It is important, therefore, that ‘close contacts’ should come forward once they have developed any manifestation of illness, seek medical attention/care, and inform health providers of their travel and or exposure,” said Avelino.
The DOH started tracing individuals who have had close contact with the Chinese couple from Wuhan who arrived last Jan. 21after one of the two, a 38-year-old female, tested positive for the virus that has claimed the lives of at least 316 in China as of Sunday. She is still under observation but her male companion, 44, died last Saturday at San Lazaro hospital after testing positive for the virus, four days after they sought treatment.
Health officials assured the public that the Philippines still has no local transmission of the virus.
“It is very clear and I categorically state that the two cases are imported cases and the statistics are for China. For us, it is zero local transmission,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said samples from the Chinese fatality were tested at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), adding it was the first test conducted on the deceased.
“He has not been tested previously. This is only from the first test done to him by the RITM,” Domingo said.
Asked why the fatality wasn’t tested for nCoV simultaneously with the 38-year-old Chinese female considering they traveled together, Domingo said they had prioritized the latter.
Domingo said samples from the female were sent to the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia while those from the male were tested by the RITM after testing kits were acquired by the Philippines last week.
80 PUIS SO FAR
The DOH said 80 PUIs have been identified since the start of the outbreak, with only two having tested positive so far. Domingo said 30 PUIs have tested negative 48 more are awaiting test results.
Among those tested with pending or negative results, 67 are currently admitted and isolated in hospitals while 10 have been discharged but are under strict monitoring.
“This substantial increase in the number of PUIs is due to the strengthened surveillance system and contact tracing of the Epidemiology Bureau,” Duque said.
“We have also expanded the PUI category coverage to the whole of China, following the recent imposition of travel ban to the mainland China, including Hong Kong and Macau,” Duque said.
PHILHEALTH WEIGHS IN
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has approved a benefit package for its members who will be considered as PUIs for possible nCoV infection.
“This is for those who are admitted in health care facilities for isolation and quarantine as advised by competent physicians,” PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales said in a statement.
PhilHealth said all treatments due to the coronavirus infection shall be covered and paid for using case rates. In more severe cases, where an infection leads to moderate or high-risk pneumonia, Morales said PhilHealth shall cover all attendant medical costs incurred by the patients.
WILDLIFE TRADE
The Asean Centre for Biodiversity has advised organizations involved in the rescue of wild animals to take extra precaution and follow the World Health Organization’s recommended measures to avoid contracting the deadly virus.
“While wild animals can carry organisms that could be pathogenic to humans, some can still appear healthy, especially if they are the natural hosts,” said Theresita Mundita Lim, executive director of the ACB.
Lim is an authority on wildlife, a former chair of the Asean Wildlife Enforcement Network and former director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Scientists have linked the novel coronavirus to a seafood market in Wuhan selling exotic live mammals, including bats and civet cats, which have previously been linked to the 2003 SARS outbreak. — With Paul Icamina
