Two new additional PUIs— a Chinese national and an American— are being closely monitored on the suspicion that they may be 2019-nCoV carriers, DOH epidemiology bureau head Dr. Ferchito Avelino said in a briefing. One of them was admitted at the San Lazaro Hospital on Thursday, Avelino added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 31)— The number of people under observation for possible infection caused by the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV has risen to 31, a health official said Friday.
There are 19 PUIs in Metro Manila; four in Western Visayas; four in Central Visayas; one each in Eastern Visayas, Mimaropa, Northern Mindanao and Davao. Of the total, six were discharged – three in Western Visayas, one in Central Visayas, one in Northern Mindanao and one in Davao.
The new tally in Metro Manila includes the first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines, a 38-year-old Chinese woman, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak and a Chinese man who has died of pneumonia due to HIV-AIDS complications, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said in the briefing. The rest of them are currently confined in medical facilities in the region.
Avelino earlier said 56 individuals were being monitored for the virus— which he classified as “2019-nCoV related health events.” These include patients with history of traveling in China in the last 14 days manifesting fever, cough, and cold.
Of the 56 individuals, 31 of these— categorized as patients under investigation, or “PUIs”— have traveled to the ground zero of Hubei province, and manifested respiratory symptoms in the last 14 days. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III previously said the symptoms of the new coronavirus infection, now named as 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or 2019-nCoV ARD, may begin to show ten days to two weeks after exposure to the virus.
The 2019-nCoV has spread globally, affecting 22 places outside of mainland China, CNN reported.
The cases in China exceeded the number infected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2002 and 2003, but SARS has a higher mortality rate so far.
SARS is caused by SARS coronavirus, which is of the same family of viruses as 2019-nCoV.
