11 OFWs in Central Mindanao under close monitoring for MERS

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Government epidemiologists are closely monitoring the health condition of 11 people in Central Mindanao who are suspected of being infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

However, regional health spokesperson Jenny Ventura said there was no reason for the public to panic because the 11 Overseas Filipino Workers remained in good health.

The 11 OFWs were in the same Etihad flight number EY 0424 that arrived from the Middle East last April 15.

“But none of them have been confirmed to be `virus carrier' yet and so there's nothing to worry about,” Ventura said.

Ventura said three of the 11 people suspected of having contracted MERS are presently in Kidapawan City, while the rest are in a vacation in Kiamba town in Sarangani, in Polomolok and Noralla, both in South Cotabato, in Pikit, North Cotabato, and in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

Eva Rabaya, chief of the North Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office, said the three Kidapawan City residents from the Middle East are now under quarantine at a government hospital.

"They have been placed under quarantine. Nasal and throat swabs taken from them are now being examined to determine if they are indeed infected,” Rabaya said.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said she has ordered Rabaya and her staff to closely monitor the condition of the three Kidapawan City residents and the OFW vacationing in Pikit town.

Mendoza had also ordered the local government units in North Cotabato's 17 towns to monitor the health conditions of the other OFWs who recently arrived from the Middle East and are now in their respective municipalities.

"The OFWs suspected of having been infected with MERS were told to stay home, to isolate themselves in their houses in the meantime,” Rabaya said.