DOH Announced MERS-CoV case in the Philippines
The Department of Health (DOH) has officially announced a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) patient in the Philippines, the CNNPhilippines reports.
The 36-year-old unidentified victim was infected with the deadly MERS-CoV. The laboratory test result was released over the weekend. According to the DOH officer, the patient was immediately transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) last Saturday at around 11:30 a.m. for close monitoring.
DOH spokesperson Lyndon Lee-Suy said that this is the second reported case of MERS-CoV in the country. In an interview, the health officer appealed to the public and asked everyone to stay calm since the issue is not a huge risk to the population. He mentioned the infected foreigner "was already on the 14th day of the incubation period of the virus when he was tested." Thus, the transmission of the disease to other people is very low. In addition, DOH has setup security measures and has isolated eight individuals who made close contact to the MERS-CoV patient who arrived in the Philippines.
Health Secretary Janet Garin provided an assurance that there is no wide transmission of MERS-CoV in the Philippines. She firmly stated that the government agency hasn't recorded a massive community MERS infection.
Garin also shared some facts to the journalists for proper understanding regarding the dreaded disease. She said, "those who are at risk of contracting the virus are hospital workers and household members with close and repeated contact with the patient." In fact, the first MERS-CoV recorded case in the Philippines was of a pregnant Filipina nurse who was tested in February 2015. The said patient underwent treatment and has fully recovered.