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| Health Secretary Francisco Duque III |
The Philippines confirmed its first case
of Wuhan coronavirus infection on Jan. 30.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said
in a news briefing that it was a 38-year-old woman
from China who flew in from Wuhan via Hong Kong on Jan 21. She is currently in
a government hospital where she was admitted on Jan 25 but is no longer showing
symptoms.
The
patient is among the 29 people monitored by the Department of Health for
suspected infection.
DOH
Epidemiology Director Ferchito Avelino said the authorities are now the
establishments the woman had been to, and the employees she had contacted.
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Specimen
taken from the woman was among six samples sent earlier this week to Australia for
testing at the Victoria Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory. The rest
tested negative.
Duque
advised Filipinos to remain calm and vigilant, and said the DOH was on top of
the situation.
He
broke the news about the infection amid mounting pressure on the government to
stop the entry of people from China to avert the spread of the coronavirus in
the country.
President
Rodrigo Duterte has dismissed the calls, saying it would be unfair to single
out Chinese tourists for a ban.
But
he said he was open to evacuating an estimated 300 Filipinos trapped in the
central Chinese of Hubei, whose capital, Wuhan, has been identified as ground
zero for the contamination.
The
first Wuhan coronavirus case was reported to the World Health Organization in
late December last year. In a span of less than a month, it has spread to all
regions in China, and to many other parts of the world.
The
number of cases of the pneumonia-like illness in China has risen to more than
8,000, with a death toll f 171 as of this writing.
The
Chinese National Health Commission said in its daily report that 1,370 patients
remained in critical condition and 12,167 people were suspected of being
infected by the virus by midnight of Jan 29.
A
total of 124 people had recovered and been discharged from hospital.
A
total of 88,693 close contacts had been traced, among whom 2,364 were
discharged from medical observation on Wednesday. At least 81,947 others are still
being monitored.
In
Hong Kong, the 11th and 12th confirmed cases were
reported today, Jan. 31.
The
11th case was the employer of the Filipina domestic worker who was
quarantined on Jan 24 after the employer’s parents who were visiting from
Wuhan, tested positive for the coronavirus The daughter had not been to China
recently.
The
12th confirmed patient is a
75-year-old man living in Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi who had been to
Guangdong from Dec 30 to Jan 7. He was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital
two days after developing a cough and shortness of breath on Jan. 22. He has
been isolated and is now in stable condition. - With reports from Rappler and Xinhua
