Zambales health officials monitoring patient for coronavirus

MANILA, Philippines – Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane said provincial health officials were currently monitoring a patient who shared he had traveled together with two patients in the Philippines earlier confirmed to have the 2019 novel coronavirus.

In a statement, Ebdane said the patient “voluntarily reached out to the DOH [Department of Health], divulging a history of travel together with the two Chinese patients who were tested and confirmed to be positive for the virus.”

The patient has been confined at the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Hospital since Thursday, February 6, and was among persons under Investigation by health officials.

Ebdane said that the patient, who remained in isolation, was assessed to be “well and stable, exhibiting no pertinent symptoms such as fever, cough, or difficulty breathing.”

He added the hospital sent the patient’s specimen samples to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to confirm if the patient had the coronavirus.

The latest in the Philippines. Philippine authorities said they were monitoring 215 persons for the novel coronavirus as Saturday, February 8. 

So far, the Department of Health has confirmed 3 cases of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines, including the first death outside China – a 44-year-old Chinese man who traveled to the Philippines from Wuhan. The man was the country’s second confirmed case of 2019-nCoV, and a companion of the first patient, a 38-year-old Chinese woman.

As of Saturday morning, February 8, the novel coronavirus has killed 720 people and infected over 34,000 people across 26 countries.

The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over the outbreak, which has prompted countries such as the Philippines and the United States to impose strict travel restrictions. – with a report from Randy Datu/Rappler.com