(UPDATE) Nurse tested negative for MERS-CoV, says gov't

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Department of Health (DOH) said today that a Filipina nurse, who was initially reported positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV), turned out to be negative for the virus based on the results of confirmatory tests.

DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said this prompted the Philippine government to suspend its efforts to track down the co-passengers of the 37-year-old nurse.

The DOH had earlier announced that the nurse, whose identity was not disclosed by Philippine officials, was infected with MERS- CoV, citing a report it obtained from Saudi Arabia.

"Whether the report was accurate or not, what's good is that people report to us. That's what we encourage people to do," said Luy when asked about the initial information relayed to the DOH about the nurse's health condition.

The Filipina nurse arrived in the country on Aug. 29, four days after she was tested for MERS-CoV in Dammam, Saudi Arabia where she was working. She did not wait for the results to come out before flying home.

On Sept. 2, she was notified by her supervisor in Saudi Arabia that she was tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The nurse then notified the DOH about her condition, prompting government health personnel to bring her to a hospital in southern Philippines for testing and isolation.