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| Six of the 16 new cases are foreigners, according to health officials |
UPDATE
By The SUN
The Philippines
reported its second fatality from the deadly novel coronavirus disease or Covid-19, late today, Mar. 11.
The patient has been identified as a 67- year-old Filipina who had no travel history outside of the Philippines
She was identified by the
Health Department as patient no 35 who was admitted at the Manila Doctors
Hospital
Various reports said she was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 29 but was diagnosed as having Covid-19 only earlier today. Her case was among the 16 new ones reported, which brought
the total tally in the country to 49.
The first death from the disease involved a 44-year-old Chinese man from
Today saw the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in
a single day since a new spike in detection started on Mar 8.
According to Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, among the new
cases is a private doctor residing in the city, who apparently fell ill after
treating a patient with the disease. He’s said to be the fourth confirmed case
in the city.
“Yung ika-apat, sa aking pag-tingin, sa aking pag-unawa, parang nahawa siya sa paga-alaga din ng mga pasyente, ‘yun ang nakikita ko,” she reportedly said.
(“The fourth one to my understanding, was infected because he was looking after some patients, that’s how I see it”).
Health Assistant Secretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire who announced the new cases in a press briefing, said the recent surge in cases was due to findings of a localized transmission and more stringent surveillance measures by the government.
She said that six of the new cases involved foreign nationals,
but she had no additional information on the patients except for their gender
and age.
She also said all hospitals are required to admit all
persons under investigation (PUIs) for suspected Covid-19 infection.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the same thing in a talk with reporters afterwards, saying hospitals that turn away coronavirus patients may face sanctions, like being stripped of their license or accreditation with PhilHealth, the national insurance agency.
Both were responding to questions about a memo issued by The
Medical City in Pasig on Mar 10 which said it would no longer accept PUI cases
as its “currently available manpower will be unable to care for any additional
patients.”
The memo from Dr. Karl Henson, director of the hospital’s
Infection Control and Epidemiology Center , said the Medical City
Dr Vergeire also advised the public to beware of
misinformation, including one that supposedly came from DOH advising everyone
to stock up two weeks’ worth of food and other supplies because Metro Manila
could be put under lockdown soon.
“That’s fake news,” she said, adding that a lockdown would
only be resorted to if there is an indication of an extensive community-wide
transmission of the disease.
She also dismissed as unverified a report of two students at the elite Ateneo de Manila University being taken ill with the virus.
Dr Vergeire said that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, is now able to test for Covid-19 up to 600 people in one day, compared to just 100 previously.
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| Duque says community transmission could already be happening |
During a hearing at the House of Representatives earlier, Secretary Duque said there is a possibility that community transmission of Covid-19 could already be taking place.
"I have said time and again that it's going to be a
very real occurrence over the very short term," he said.
But right now, Dr Duque said the cases point only to a
localized transmission, meaning the disease is being passed on among people
within the Philippines
"What we have now is localized transmission in the
areas we have earlier mentioned. But the situation can very quickly progress
into a community transmission, which means, there could be a larger area of
affected communities," Duque told the House Committee on Health.
On Feb 2, Dr Duque reported the first two cases, a couple who flew into the country from Wuhan City. A third patient who arrived from Shezhen was reported as the third case a few days later.
The 42-year-old Chinese male in the first two cases reportedly died at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila within
24 hours of being diagnosed, becoming the first recorded fatality in the Philippines.
On Mar 9, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation 922
declaring a state of public health emergency throughout the country amid the worsening
outbreak, and ordered all schools in Metro Manila to close down until this
weekend.
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