By Aaron Recuenco, Charissa Luci-Atienza, and Analou De Vera
The Philippine National Police (PNP) was given 48 hours starting yesterday to locate the more than 250 airline passengers who were on board the two flights taken by the two Chinese tourists who earlier tested positive for the 2019-novel coronavirus acute respiratory dis- ease (2019-nCoV ARD).
Philippine National Police (MANILA BULLETIN)
Maj. Gen. Jose Napoleon Coronel, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said part of the task given to them is to determine the health condition of all the passengers, particularly those who made direct contact with the two Chinese.
The Chinese couple, the first and second cases of nCoV in the country, arrived in Manila on January 21. Both of them tested positive for nCoV.
The second case, a 44-year-old Chinese male, died on February 1. "We will also be getting assistance from the DOH in physically locating and confronting the passengers and asking them to undergo medical examination," said Coronel in a press briefing at Camp Crame.
Coronel said they will be using the data given by two local airline companies in locating the passengers. The data contains the phone numbers, addresses, and email ad- dresses of the passengers. "The initial plan is to call them up through their phones.
There are protocols from the DOH that we will follow," said Coronel.
The official said there were three flights that were boarded by the couple, one international flight that brought them to the Philippines on January 21 and two domestic flights to Cebu and Dumaguete.
"There are a total of 331 passengers of three different flights. There were foreign nationals on board the flight, particularly coming from Hong Kong," said Coronel. "I understand that out of 331 passengers, more than 50 have already been accounted for and contacted already. The 270-plus others will have to be manually and individually checked," he added.
He said they will start with the flight from Hong Kong to Cebu, then from Cebu to Dumaguete, and Dumaguete to Manila.
3rd nCoV case
The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed yesterday a third case of the 2019-nCoV ARD in a 60-year- old Chinese woman.
Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo said the woman arrived in Cebu City from Wuhan, China via Hong Kong last January 20, 2020 and traveled to Bohol.
On January 22, the woman consulted a private hospital in Bohol after expe- riencing fever and coryza.
Domingo said the woman had no fever when she passed through the thermal scanners upon her arrival in Cebu City on January 20. Domingo noted that the samples taken from the patient last January 24 tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
The test was performed by both the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, and the Philippines’ Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
"Results from the said tests came back negative last January 29 and 30, and upon recovery of the patient, she was discharged and was allowed to return to China via Cebu last January 31," said Domingo.
The health undersecretary, however, said that the RITM last Monday, February 3, notified them that an earlier sample from the patient, dated January 23, tested positive for the 2019-nCoV ARD "making her the third confirmed 2019-nCoV ARD in the Philippines."
“ DOH urges the passengers from Cebu Pacific flight 5J241 from Hong Kong to Cebu on January 20 and 21, 2020; Cebu Pacific flight DG6519 from Cebu to Dumaguete on January 21, 2020; and Philippine Air- lines flight PR 2542 from Dumaguete to Manila on January 25, 2020 to cooperate with DOH representatives who will be getting in touch with them for assessment,” he said.
Domingo said that the number of PUIs across the country for the 2019 nCoV ARD has already reached 133. “Of the 133 PUIs, 115 are currently admitted and isolated, while 16 have been discharged under strict monitoring. Among the PUIs, 63 are Filipinos, 54 are Chinese, and 16 are other nationalities. Thirty-two of them were reported to have traveled to Wuhan, China,” said Domingo.
“I am calling on all Filipinos to cooperate. In such trying times, we should not let our fears overwhelm us and cause us to over-react. We need to work together,” he said.
READ MORE: DOH confirms Chinese woman 3rd case of nCoV in PH
Filipino repatriates
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday it is processing all the necessary permits and clearances for the immediate repatriation of 42 Filipinos in Hubei province, China who signified their intention to return home.
DFA Undersecretary Brigido Dulay assured the House Committee on Metro Manila Development that the DFA is exhausting all means to ensure the immediate repatriation of 42 Filipinos.
"The DFA is processing all the permits and clearances for the repatriation of Filipinos in Hubei province. Right now, there are 42 Filipinos who have signified their intent to join the repatriation," he said.
He said they are getting clearances from different offices in China — one in Beijing, one in Shanghai that covers Wuhan, and the other in the provincial government in Wuhan.
"We are working with different agencies in China," Dulay assured the House panel, chaired by Rep. Manuel Luis Lopez of the first district of Manila. Dulay clarified that the repatriation was only intended for Filipinos in Hubei province, which has been under lockdown.
"We would like to clarify that the repatriation is meant for Filipinos in Hubei. Our nationals in Hubei are the ones that are restricted to travel," he said.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said Filipinos who will be repatriated from Hubei will be brought to Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija for a two-week quarantine.
READ MORE: DFA rushing clearances for repatriation of 42 Filipinos in Hubei
Death toll rises
The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China passed 490 on Wednesday, as two US airlines suspended flights to Hong Kong following the first fatality there and 10 cases were confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined in Japan.
China's National Health Commission said another 65 deaths were reported on Tuesday, a new daily record bringing the toll on the mainland to 490, mostly in and around the locked-down central city of Wuhan where the virus emerged late last year.
There have been two deaths outside mainland China.
A 39-year-old man in Hong Kong with an underlying illness who had visited Wuhan city died on Tuesday.
A man died in the Philippines last week after visiting Wuhan, the first virus-related overseas fatality.
Across mainland China, there were 3,887 new confirmed infections, bringing the total accumulated number to 24,324.
Ten people on a cruise liner under quarantine at the Japanese port of Yokohama tested positive for coronavirus, Japan's health minister said, a figure that could rise as medical screening of thousands of patients and crew continued.
The 10 infected people will be transported to a medical facility, while the remaining around 3,700 people will be quarantined on board the Carnival Corp ship Diamond Princess for 14 days. There are now 33 cases in Japan.
Meeting with repatriates
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said there will probably be a long discussion before President Duterte is allowed to go to Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, to meet Filipino repatriates from China on Saturday.
Nograles said knowing the Presi- dent, he would probably insist on going to the mega drug rehabilitation facility that will serve as the quarantine site for the Filipinos repatriated from China, despite the risk to his health.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo had earlier said that the repatriated Filipinos will arrive at the Clark Airport on Saturday and will be transported to the drug rehabilitation facility inside Fort Magsaysay, where they will undergo quarantine for two weeks.
Nograles assured residents living around the mega drug rehabilitation facility that the virus will not spread
in the province.
READ MORE:Duterte keen to greet Filipinos arriving from China
Contact tracing
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to assist the Department of Health (DOH) in its contact tracing of airline passengers to deter the spread of the dreaded 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the conduct of the DOH- led contact tracing will be done on passengers who also took the same flights as the two persons who were tested positive for nCoV.
“Secretary Eduardo M. Año has directed PNP Chief Archie Gamboa to secure the flight manifest from the airlines and immediately begin the investigation into the whereabouts of these individuals and report the same immediately to health authorities,’’ Malaya said.
Malaya said “that Gamboa has directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) under P/ MGen Joel Napoleon Coronel to deploy tracker teams for this purpose. Malaya noted that the CIDG will be under the supervision of Police Lt. Gen Guillermo Eleazar.
READ MORE: DILG orders PNP to assist DOH in contact tracing
Coordination
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday coordination with other government agencies is needed in finding persons who are suspected of having the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).
Guevarra issued on Tuesday Department Order (DO) No. 052 directing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to help the Department of Health (DOH) in tracking down these persons.
READ MORE: Guvarra orders NBI to help DOH with contact tracing, investigate nCoV fake news
Virus test kits
Senator Francis Tolentino urged the DOH to use the ₱2.25 billion that President Duterte had approved to purchase test kits that will immediately detect the 2019-nCoV infection.
He said the DOH should use the ₱2.25-billion fund that President Duterte approved to buy the test kits, instead of the initial plan to procure protective equipment, such as masks, gloves and suits, for health workers dealing with infected patients or those under monitoring.
READ MORE: Let’s buy virus test kits, Senator Tolentino proposes
Supplemental budget
Processing of the proposed ₱2.060-billion supplemental bud- get aimed at addressing the deadly 2019 nCoV threat in the country went off to a swift start as the House of Representatives underscored the urgency of passing the measure.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte-Salceda, vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, filed House Bill 6177 that adopted the DOH’s proposal for additional allocation for urgent health related program.
The bill was referred to the Committee on Appropriations after being read on the floor. “At least 95 percent of the supplemental budget will be for personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers, “Salceda said, referring to the ₱2,025-billion share of the proposed additional allocation.
However, he admitted that the proposed measure does not include funding for medicines and pharmaceuticals that might be developed in the future to treat the killer disease.
More Chinese cities shut down HANGZHOU, China — Millions more people have been ordered to stay indoors as China battles to curb the spread of a new virus that authorities said Wednesday has already killed nearly 500 people.
With more than 24,000 cases in China, a growing number of cities have been imposing a range of restrictions in recent days far from central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, as authorities struggle to contain the virus.
Global concerns have risen as more countries found cases that were not imported from China and 10 people tested positive for the virus on a ship quarantined off the coast of Japan.
Some 56 million people in Hubei have been under virtual lockdown since last week, with its capital Wuhan at the heart of the health emergency. In Hangzhou, some 175 kilometers (110 miles) southwest of Shanghai, green fences blocked streets near the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibaba as a fighter jet circled overhead.
READ MORE: Proposed P2.060 billion nCoV budget sought to protect health workers from disease threat
Flight suspension
HONG KONG — United and American Airlines on Wednesday both announced plans to temporarily suspend flights to Hong Kong fol- lowing the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus.
United said it would halt flights to the international financial hub from Saturday until February 20, citing a sharp drop in passengers.
American Airlines said it had already suspended flights through to February 20. Both carriers had previously said they were halting flights to mainland China where the outbreak of the new coronavirus began late last year and has since killed nearly 500 people and infected more than 24,000.
Dozens of major airlines have stopped flying to the Chinese main- land in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, which has been detected among a small number of people in more than 20 countries. (With reports from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos, Vanne Elaine P. Terrazo- la, Chito Chavez, Jeffrey G. Damicog, Ben Rosario, AFP, and Reuters)