Man in Tacloban being watched if he has coronavirus: DOH

January 24, 2020

While it awaits confirmation from laboratory tests on a five-year-old Chinese boy in Cebu City, the Department of Health (DOH) is looking at the possibility of having another suspected case of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines. 

A 36-year-old male in Tacloban City, who came from Wuhan, China manifested symptoms of having respiratory infection. 

"We still have that patient in Cebu considered as a person under investigation. And we have another person under investigation in Tacloban City," said Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo in an interview. 

"He has history of travel to Wuhan, China and then he came home with cough and colds and fever. So far, we have these two under investigation," he added. 

He said the patient was working in Wuhan and arrived in the country last January 17 or 18.

Domingo said the patient is stable, and remains in isolation at a local health facility. 

Domingo added the patient's close contacts are under home quarantine and not showing any symptoms of the virus. 

Domingo said unlike the boy in Cebu, the man from Tacloban has yet to be tested positive or negative for any virus. 

"The one in Tacloban is a suspected case because he has yet to have a positive test for the pancoronavirus... We will just do the test. We have not yet reached the level that he is a probable case," he said. 

The boy in Cebu was tested positive for a non-specific pancoronavirus assay by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

His samples were then sent to an Australian laboratory. Domingo said the results from Australia will arrive on Tuesday at the earliest. 

"It is a long holiday weekend in Australia since it is the celebration of Australia Day," noted Domingo. DMS