By Jonathan Hicap
The Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa has denied that it has a patient with confirmed coronavirus.
Asian Hospital and Medical Center (Facebook)
They said this after the Department of Health (DOH) revealed on Jan. 27 that one of 11 persons under investigation for suspected novel 2019 coronavirus is at the Asian Hospital.
“In view of the speculations circulated through text messages and social media about a patient case with confirmed 2019-nCov within Asian Hospital and Medical Center, we would like to assure the public and all concerned that there is no confirmed 2019-nCov patient case within Asian Hospital and Medical Center,” the hospital said in a statement.
It added that “we would like to assure the public that Asian Hospital and Medical Center is fully equipped and capable of handling patients suspected to be infected with the 2019-nCoV and other emerging infectious diseases that are brought to its care.”
Muntinlupa City Health Office chief Dr. Teresa Tuliao also said there is no confirmed coronavirus case in the city to date.
“Upon coordination and monitoring with our local hospitals, we have no verified novel coronavirus case in Muntinlupa City as of January 27. We are also closely coordinating with public health officials from DOH and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine regarding this issue,” she said.
Asian Hospital reminded “the public to remain vigilant and seek immediate attention if symptoms such as cold, cough, fever, difficulty in breathing, and shortness of breath are experienced, especially if you have lived in or traveled to Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China within two weeks of symptom onset. Furthermore, everyone is encouraged to practice hand hygiene and cough etiquette to stop the spread of any and all other infectious diseases.”
It urged people “to believe only official statements from duly constituted government authorities releasing status updates pertaining to the 2019-nCov in the country, such as the Department of Health, instead of circulating fake news so as not to cause undue public scare and confusion.”