By Analou De Vera and Genalyn Kabiling
The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday reported the first local case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines – involving a 62-year-old Filipino, who has no known travel history to countries with virus infection cases.
Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (Facebook)
It likewise reported another coronavirus case, bringing the country’s number of COVID-19 cases to five.
Despite the two new cases, Malacañang said there is no cause for alarm as the government is prepared to deal with an outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III revealed the two new coronavirus cases in a press briefing Friday.
Duque said the 62-year-old man is known to have regularly visited a Muslim prayer hall in Barangay Greenhills in San Juan City. The patient, who already has hypertension and diabetes mellitus, experienced cough with phlegm last February 25.
“The patient sought medical consultation at a hospital in Metro Manila last March 1 and was admitted with severe pneumonia. Specimen collected on March 4 tested positive for COVID-19 on March 5,” Duque said of the 62-year-old man currently admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa, City.
“Previous visitors to the prayer hall who are presenting fever and/or respiratory symptoms are encouraged to call the DOH hotline (02)8-651-7800 loc. 1149-1150 for proper referral to the appropriate health facility,” Duque said.
Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a relative of the patient, who had close contact with the 62-year-old man, has also manifested symptoms of respiratory illness.
“We already have one relative, which has been with the patient all throughout, who has experienced symptoms, and is now with him in our referral hospital. The specimen was collected and we’re just awaiting results,” said Vergeire.
Contact-tracing in San Juan
The local government of San Juan City and the Department of Health (DOH) has started conducting the contact-tracing to identify those who have come in contact with a 62-year-old man that tested positive for COVID-19.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said he has already ordered the City Health Office to disinfect, sanitize, and to temporarily close to the public the prayer room in Barangay Greenhills, which the patient regularly visits.
Although the 62-year-old man is the first local COVID-19 case, Duque said that there is still no local transmission of the coronavirus in the Philippines yet.
“There is no transmission to speak of as of yet because we only have one. That’s why we are doing contact tracing so as to establish whether or not there are now cases or clustering of cases. But now, it’s premature to say there is local transmission,” said Duque.
However, World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that there’s likelihood that the country is now “seeing local transmission.”
“It may be that you are seeing local transmission but we need to be clear,” said Abeyasinghe in an ambush interview.
“We don’t know the point of contact, whether it was from a foreigner, a local contact, or other contaminated source. We also don’t know whether that patient has transmitted the infection to other people. At this point, we are not sure whether we are looking at an isolated case or a cluster of cases. But a cluster of cases doesn’t mean that you are having widespread local transmission,” he said.
Meanwhile, the other new COVID-19 case in the Philippines is a 48-year-old Filipino lawyer who has a history of travel to Japan. He returned to the country last February 25 and started experiencing chills and fever on March 3.
“The patient sought medical consultation at a hospital and samples were collected for testing. Results tested positive for COVID-19 on March 5. He is currently stable and admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine,” said Duque.
Duque said that they are now conducting contact tracing for the two new cases.
“The priority intervention is the contact tracing. We will have to wait for the results of the contact tracing and coordination with local government units,” he said.
PH ready – Panelo
With the two new coronavirus cases, Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the government has readied health protocols to contain the spread of the virus in the country.
“There will be measures, which are already established protocols. In other words, there is no need for alarm or worry because we are ready. From the very start, we already said that,” he said in an interview with reporters at the Palace.
Panelo, likewise, guaranteed that the government has been transparent in giving updates about the coronavirus situation in the country. He made the comment after Taiwan and Australia first reported about their virus-hit nationals after traveling from the Philippines.
“We should all be transparent because it affects all of us,” he said. “We can't please all people all the time but the government is doing its job.”
Duque said they cannot confirm yet if the three foreigners, who tested positive for COVID-19 abroad, had contracted the disease during their visit to the Philippines.
The first case involved a 38-year-old Taiwanese male who visited the Philippines from February 28 to March 3. Duque said the man developed abdominal discomfort and diarrhea on March 2, and experienced sore throat, fever, and malaise on March 3.
“The patient consulted at an outpatient clinic in Taiwan on March 4, and was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on March 5. The onset of symptoms on March 2 points to possible infection before the patient traveled to the Philippines,” said Duque.
“We recognize that the incubation phase of the disease is known to be two to 14 days. But in the majority of the cases, it's six to seven days. So it's very likely that this person got infected before or during travel to Philippines. So the timeline points to possible earlier infection,” Abeyasinghe said of Taiwanese’s case.
The second case is a 44-year-old Japanese man who visited the country from February 21 to 28. Prior to visiting the Philippines, he traveled to Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan, the Duque said.
Duque said the man had stayed at three different hotels during his visit to Metro Manila.
The man flew back to Thailand last February 28 and experienced cough, shortness of breath, and fever which began on February 29. He had a consultation at a clinic in Cambodia on March 3 and was referred to a hospital but no tests were done, said Duque.
He flew back to Japan last March 4 and was tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently admitted and is still in isolation at Aichi Prefecture Hospital.
“The extensive travel history of the patient suggests possible contraction of the disease in another country,” said Duque.
Abeyasinghe agreed, saying the Japanese man “was travelling extensively between many countries for occupational reasons. We need to recognize that he spent several days in Vietnam, Thailand, and he has been going in and out of Japan also. Infection could have actually happened in any of these countries.”
The third case is a woman living in Sydney, Australia, who attended a wedding in Manila on February 13 and visited Pangasinan.
“The patient left the country for Sydney on March 2, and was confirmed with COVID-19 by the New South Wales government on March 3. As for this case, DOH is still verifying information with the International Health Regulation National Focal Point Australia,” said Duque.
Vergeire said they are now also conducting contact tracing for these cases.
“We have three foreign nationals who are back in their country already. We will just trace back the places they went to and the people they have been with. We will have different situations but, definitely, the standard protocols will still be the same,” she said. (With a report from Jhon Aldrin Casinas)