NCOV SCREENING. The Department of Health (DOH) and the General Santos City Health Office has set up a screening station at the city international airport to properly monitor arriving passengers for possible novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or 2019-nCoV infection. DOH-12 reported on Sunday (Feb. 9, 2020) that a patient is currently under investigation for the disease in a hospital in Soccsksargen. (Photo grab from the General Santos City Tourism Council’s Facebook page)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The Department of Health (DOH)-Region 12 (Soccsksargen) reported on Sunday the region’s first case of patient under investigation (PUI) for the deadly novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV).
In a statement released Sunday, the agency said the patient is currently in “strict isolation and medical management” in an undisclosed hospital in the region.
It said specimen from the PUI has been collected and sent to the DOH’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City for confirmatory testing.
DOH-12 noted that strict infection and control measures are being implemented while waiting for the release of the laboratory test result.
“The reported PUI (should) not prompt fear (from the public) since the patient is still under investigation and is not yet positively confirmed (for 2019-nCoV),” it said.
The agency advised residents not to panic and always practice precautionary measures, especially proper sanitation and health lifestyles.
It also cited frequent hand washing, eating of nutritious food to boost the immune system, proper cough etiquette by maintaining distance, and covering the mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing.
“Avoid close contact with people showing cold or flu-like symptoms, limit going to crowded places and avoid eating food that were not properly cooked,” it said.
DOH-12 urged residents who are showing signs and symptoms like fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing to seek consultation at the nearest health center or hospital.
DOH-12 officials and personnel did not provide further details of the case and referred inquiries to the press statement.
The City Health Office here reported last week a person under monitoring (PUM) for the 2019-nCoV but the latter was already cleared after completing a two-week self-quarantine “without any sign of illness.”
The patient, a Chinese businessman who had long been staying in the city, was placed under monitoring after traveling to Wuhan, China last month for the Chinese New Year holidays.
Four other Chinese tourists, including a minor, from Fujian province in China are undergoing quarantine at the DOH-managed Regional Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Alabel town, Sarangani province.
Dr. Rochelle Oco, acting head of the City Health Office (CHO), maintained in an advisory released Saturday there are no confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV in the city.
She reiterated that the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the city’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases have been closely monitoring the situation in the area.
“Stricter infection control strategies are being implemented in (local) hospitals and the CHO is in close coordination with the DOH and Bureau of Quarantine,” she said.
She added they have implemented enhanced surveillance system and community engagement strategies through the activated Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams. (PNA)
