PH has 10-11 suspected cases of novel corona virus
Credit to Author: Jan Arcilla| Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2020 01:00:20 +0000
HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said that there were 10-11 persons “under investigation” on suspicion that they have the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
“Sa ngayon, mayroon tayong mga sampu, labing-isa [na suspected cases] but for verification pa rin. Yung tinatawag nating ‘person under investigation’ (As of now, we have 10-11 [suspected cases] but this is still for verification. They are what we call ‘person under investigation’,” Duque said in an ambush interview during the awarding ceremony of Rotary Golden Wheel Awards on Saturday night at the Novotel Hotel in Quezon City.
He clarified that these cases were subject for confirmatory tests to be administered by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
“Sa kasalukuyan, yung kanilang pagsusuri ng kanilang mga throat swab… sa lalamunan yung plema. Kinukunan ng sample ‘yan tapos dinadala sa RITM (At the moment, their throat swab [is being tested]. We get a sample and it will be brought to RITM),” he said.
However, the health chief refused to give further details.
If a patient is found positive for non-specific coronavirus, his or her specimen will be sent to the International Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.
“Sila ang may kakayahan na kilalanin or tukuyin kung ang kaso na ito ay katulad sa Wuhan, China (They have the ability to know or determine the case if it is the same with Wuhan, China),” Duque said.
“We have no confirmed case of novel coronavirus. The latest confirmatory test results yielded a negative for the 5-year old Chinese, who at the moment is still in one of the facilities in Cebu City,” he said.