BRAZILIAN FAMILY IN PALAWAN TESTED FOR NCOV; DEATHS HIT 41
PUERTO PRINCESA—A Brazilian couple and their 10-year-old daughter have been placed in isolation in a hospital here after the girl showed symptoms of novel coronavirus infection shortly after the family arrived at the resort town of El Nido from the Chinese city of Wuhan, officials said on Saturday.
“The kid has respiratory symptoms, fever and high suspicion of exposure to ncov because they are residents of Wuhan,” said Dr. Audie Cipriano, chief of medical professional staff at Ospital ng Palawan (ONP).
“The father only has sore throat, while the mother showed no symptoms,” he added.
Wuhan has been identified as the center of the outbreak of the novel coronavrius, also called 2019-ncov, in late December. Almost 1,300 people across China have been infected, the bulk of them in and around the city of 11 million, and 41 have died as of Saturday.
Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France, the United States and Australia have reported confirmed cases.
No confirmed case
There has been no confirmed case in the Philippines as of Saturday afternoon and to keep the virus out, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has called on Filipinos to remain vigilant and be health conscious as the government enforced precautionary measures.
“Always practice hand hygiene, observe proper cough etiquette, avoid close contact with people manifesting flu-like symptoms, avoid contact with farm and wild animals, cook food properly, and adopt healthy lifestyles to mount immunity against infections,” Duque said in a statement.
All travelers who develop fever and cough and had been to Wuhan should immediately seek medical attention, he said.
American from Wuhan
In addition to the Brazilian child, an American, also a resident of Wuhan, was placed in isolation in a hospital in Tacloban City as a “suspected case.”
The first suspected case, a 5-year-old boy who had cough and fever after he arrived in Cebu City from Wuhan on Jan. 12, had tested negative for 2019-ncov, Duque announced on Friday night, citing results from the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Australia.
Cipriano said the Brazilian girl must undergo a confirmatory test because she had three of the four 2019-ncov indicators set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH).
The 2019-ncov markers include: respiratory symptoms; difficulty breathing or shortness of breath; fever; and exposure or contact with persons from Wuhan.
Officials refused to release other information about the Brazilian family who traveled to El Nido on Wednesday on a chartered flight a day after arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Australian lab test
The girl was brought by her parents to a local rural health clinic after she fell ill on Friday. They were told to stay in their hotel room before they were taken to Puerto Princesa early on Saturday. They are being confined in a four-bed isolation room at ONP, said DOH regional epidemiologist Noel Orosco.
Throat swabs taken from the girl and her parents were to be sent to the Australian laboratory for confirmatory tests.
The family was “cooperative in the process and protocol being imposed by the hospital,” Cipriano said.
The City Health Office and Bureau of Quarantine strengthened the precautionary protocols at Puerto Princesa International Airport and seaports, checking the travel history and health condition of arriving passengers.
Arriving passengers with fever detected by thermal scanners will be temporarily quarantined in a holding area before being referred to the provincial hospital to undergo further medical checkup.
Tacloban patient
In Tacloban, the 36-year-old American from Wuhan was recovering well at a government hospital, according to John Paul Roca, information officer of the DOH regional office.
The patient now has symptoms that were “just like ordinary cough or fever,” Roca said.
The man arrived in Tacloban on Jan. 16 to see his girlfriend and her family. The next day, he developed fever and was coughing. He was immediately brought to a hospital where he was placed in isolation.
Roca said throat swabs from the patient would be sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila and test results were expected after 48 hours.
The coronavirus scare has put some people on edge, including a Taiwanese woman who had gone to the ONP, claiming she was recently on a plane with another passenger from Wuhan.
“She wanted to get tested but she was not sick at all,” Orosco said.
A Russian female resident of Wuhan who was visiting Coron, Palawan, had complained of a sore throat.
Orosco said that she, too, was discharged after doctors learned she had been in Coron for 21 days as of Saturday,
longer than the 14-day incubation period for 2019-ncov.
But in Bohol, Dexter Muneses Ancla, an official of the Bohol Nature Conservation Society, wrote suspended Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap asking him to restrict the entry of Chinese tourists in Bohol.
“I am not being racist,” Ancla said. “Like you, I have Chinese blood in my veins too. But this new coronavirus does not discriminate. And it is very deadly and has no known cure yet.”
“Much better block all of them from entering Bohol until the coronavirus is contained and has a cure. Please stop the direct flights from China to Bohol,” he said.
Residents in Bohol were alarmed after local news reports said two Chinese tourists, age 2 and 36, were placed under observation after showing alleged symptoms of the virus. The two were eventually discharged.
Boholanos assured
Acting Bohol Gov. Rene Relampagos assured Boholanos that there was no cause for alarm since proper health protocols had been followed.
The 2-year-old boy had left the country while officials are keeping contact with the 36 year old, he added.