24 suspected nCoV cases under tight watch – DoH
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 09:55:59 +0000
SECURITY guards at a Metro Rail Transit station wear face masks as a precautionary measure amid the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus in neighboring countries. (Mark Balmores)
The Department of Health (DoH) said on Tuesday that they are closely monitoring 24 individuals they considered as “persons under investigation” (PUIs) for possible infection of the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCov).
In a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo said that most of the PUIs are “Chinese nationals and there are no Filipino nationals at this time.” All of them have a history of travel to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak of the new virus.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reiterated that there is no confirmed case of 2019 nCoV in the country yet.
As of Tuesday, a total of 4,515 confirmed cases, including 106 deaths linked to 2019 nCoV have been recorded, said World Health Organization Country Representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe.
Asked if it is necessary to quarantine every person who came from places where nCoV is detected, Abeyasinghe said that the “justification is very weak.”
“Right now, the justification is very weak for us to ask to quarantine everybody coming from all those places because that would mean that we have to quarantine people coming from 36 countries,” he said.
“At this point in time, there is no justification to quarantine anybody who comes from a city that has confirmed a nCoV case. A careful assessment needs to be done,” he added.
REPATRIATION PLAN
Duque said that during their Interagency Committee meeting, “they resolved and agreed” to ensure support for overseas Filipinos in China.
This includes “comprehensive transport and quarantine plans for Overseas Filipinos from Hubei province who wish to voluntarily return to the Philippines,” said Duque.
“The Committee also agreed on proposing temporary restrictions on the issuance of visas for travelers from Hubei province, and issuing advisories temporarily discouraging non-essential travel to China,” he added.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has expressed willingness to work with the Philippine government to repatriate Filipino nationals there “if there is a need to repatriate them.”
“They have assured us that they are ready to address all of the concerns that any Filipino may have in that area.
Including the need to repatriate if they wish to come home,” said Dulay.
“They request that our nationals remain calm. And they have already established hotlines locally especially for our nationals in Hubei province. Our embassies and consulates are in touch with that hotline. If there are any nationals of ours in Hubei or in Wuhan we are ready to assist them through that hotline,” he added.
“The province itself is under travel restrictions, essentially the City of Wuhan is in lockdown as of this moment. Everything that we do in that particular zone, we have to coordinate with Chinese authorities,” he furthered.
The DoH said that those who wish to be repatriated will undergo quarantine for 14 days.
“Quarantine plan may be known to the volunteer returnees. All the details of the plan will be disclosed to them and we are arranging one place where we can quarantine all of them for ease of management rather than assigning them to different facilities,” said Duque.
The health chief assured that there is a budget in place with regards to the voluntary repatriation measure.
“We know where to get the budget for that. We don’t have the figures at the moment because like I said that’s the least of our concern. What is important is to prioritize the facilitation of our people in Wuhan, China who have expressed the wish or the desire to be repatriated,” said Duque.
TESTING KIT
Meanwhile, the DoH said that they are
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