The US, Australia and Thailand reported their first deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday, with the global death toll due to the virus reaching 2,976, according to CNN.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) — Three more Filipinos quarantined at New Clark City are showing symptoms similar to a coronavirus infection, the Health Department told CNN Philippines on Sunday.
Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said three more Filipinos who were evacuated from the Princess Diamond cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan now have red-flag symptoms that are also associated with the coronavirus disease, formally known as COVID-19.
Vergeire said tests are still pending for three Filipinos, while 10 of the evacuees who have also shown coronavirus symptoms have tested negative for the virus. According to her, they are expecting the test results of those with symptoms within 24 to 48 hours.
“We have expected this kind of circumstance. We have included to our plans the anticipation that some of them may show symptoms once they arrive home,” Vergeire said.
The Health Department said Saturday that nine Filipinos were under strict monitoring in a Pampanga hospital and “are all in stable condition.”
All in all, 458 Filipinos, mostly crew members, were brought home from the Diamond Princess last week. They were transported to the New Clark City Athletes Village for a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The repatriation did not include 70 Filipinos who have fallen ill to COVID-19.
Another 10 have recovered from the disease, eight of them have returned to the Philippines and placed under strict monitoring, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Friday.
Some Americans, Britons and Australians who were previously on the Diamond Princess only tested positive for coronavirus after they returned home from a 14-day quarantine. Among them is a 78-year-old man from Perth, Australia, who became the country’s first reported death due to the virus.
COVID-19 makes people sick, usually with a mild to moderate upper respiratory tract illness, similar to a common cold. Its symptoms include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache and a fever that can last for a couple of days.
For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there’s a chance the virus could cause a much more serious, respiratory tract illness like a pneumonia or bronchitis.
The Philippines has only confirmed three cases of the virus. Two of them have already recovered and returned to China, while one died — the first recorded death outside of mainland China.
