By Minka Klaudia Tiangco
There are now seven persons under investigation (PUIs) in Bohol for possibly contracting the 2019-novel coronavirus.
Of this number, five are said to have interacted with the 60-year-old Chinese woman who is the third confirmed case of 2019-nCoV in the country, according to a report from GMA News on Saturday.
Three of the PUIs were her attending nurses after she was admitted to a hospital, while two were on board the same fast ferry that she rode from Cebu to Tagbiliran.
The two other PUIs are United States citizens aged 23 and 24 who reportedly travelled from New York to Beijing, China before arriving in the Philippines.
The seven patients, who displayed flu-like symptoms, have been isolated and are in stable condition, the report showed.
Recently, Bohol Governor Arthur Yap said that the local government tracked the country's third 2019-nCoV case in China and found that she has already recovered.
According to the Department of Health, there are now 267 PUIs in the country. The health department said 230 of this number are currently admitted and isolated, 17 have been discharged but remain "under strict monitoring," and 13 refused admission.
The Philippines has had three people, all Chinese nationals from Wuhan, who tested positive for the new virus.
The first case is a 38-year-old woman who is reportedly under stable condition. Her companion, a 44-year-old man, died due to the infection, the first 2019-nCoV-related fatality to be reported outside of China.