441 patients probed for novel coronavirus in PH

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) has probed a total of 441 patients for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as of Thursday, February 13. 

This is an increase of  33 from the total of 408 the previous day, February 12. 

Of the 441patients, 230 are currently admitted in hospitals, while 206 have been discharged but are still being monitored daily by the DOH in case they develop symptoms. A total of 252 patients have already tested negative for the virus, while 186 samples are still being processed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).  

Here is the breakdown of patients per region:

• Ilocos Region – 9
• Cagayan Valley – 22
• Cordillera Administrative Region – 14
• Central Luzon – 52
• Metro Manila – 144
• Calabarzon – 41
• Mimaropa – 12
• Bicol – 5
• Western Visayas – 33
• Central Visayas – 53
• Eastern Visayas – 16
• Northern Mindanao – 14
• Caraga – 2
• Davao Region – 23
• Soccsksargen – 1

The DOH said there are no longer reports of patients refusing admission to hospitals. It was a problem the agency encountered last week, as at least 10 patients refused hospitalization, citing concerns about expenses. 

The health department assured those being treated in public hospitals that costs will be fully shouldered by the government. Meanwhile, for patients in private hospitals, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation has an available insurance package for 2019-nCoV treatment.  

So far, there have been 3 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines. One of them died due to severe pneumonia caused by the virus, while the other two have recovered from the infection and have since been discharged from the hospital.

All 3 are imported cases, as the patients traveled from China already carrying the virus. This means that there is still no local transmission of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines. But the health department said it was prepared in case of an outbreak of local transmission, as the World Health Organization has advised all countries to be prepared. Local transmission outside of China has so far been recorded in Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Vietnam, South Korea, and Australia.  

The WHO has also said that the new virus constitutes a grave threat to the world, having already killed 1,369 people and infected more than 60,300, mostly in China. – Rappler.com