DOH: No positive MERS-CoV case in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) clarified yesterday that the Philippines is currently free of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Lyndon Lee Suy, DOH spokesman, explained that the isolation and monitoring of the 36-year-old woman in Cagayan de Oro City are just part of the protocol to monitor people manifesting MERS-CoV symptoms and have traveled to countries with reported cases.

“We never run out of cases being monitored. But now, we don’t have a (positive) case. If there is, we would know because our lines are open,” he said in a television interview.

At the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro, hospital in-charge Peter Quiaiot also clarified that the patient’s condition is already stable although, as a precaution, they have also isolated and monitored her husband.

“The patient, based on the X-ray, has been diagnosed to have pulmonary tuberculosis,” Quiaiot reported.

A deeper probe showed that the woman arrived in the country from Singapore sometime in December and was hospitalized on Jan. 31. She was transferred to the government-run hospital, which is designated to treat special cases like MERS-CoV, on Feb. 2.

But Lee Suy reiterated that there are other cases being monitored by DOH and that not one has turned out to be positive for the virus.

Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano is also sending a medical team to look into the condition of the patient just to be sure, noting that the hospital is very near malls and the provincial capitol. – With Gerry Lee Gorit