Phl Confirms Third Case of 2019 nCoV-ARD

Maris Federez  

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Wednesday the third case of the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) acute respiratory disease (ARD).

In a press briefing, Health undersecretary Eric Domingo said a 60-year-old Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City has been confirmed as the country’s third case of the 2019-nCoV.

The Chinese national arrived in Cebu City via Hong Kong on January 20.

Domingo said she was admitted to a private hospital in Bohol due to fever and colds on Jan. 22.

Domingo said blood samples were taken from the woman on January 23 and 24.

The samples that were taken on January 24 were tested by both an Australian laboratory and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Both tests showed that she was negative for nCov.

However, RITM subsequently tested a sample taken earlier on January 23, and the result showed she was positive for nCoV.

The health official explained that the tests yielded two different test results because the woman was already toward the end of the illness at the time when the samples were taken.

After being testing negative, the woman was discharged from the hospital and had taken a flight to Shenzhen, China with her companions on January 31.

As of this writing, the Philippines has recorded 133 suspected cases of novel coronavirus infection with 115 still in hospital confinement, 16 discharged.

Domingo concluded that there is no case of human-to-human transmission of nCoV in the country. — /mbmf

Source: www.untvweb.com