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Belgian, Filipino wife latest Covid-2019 PUIs in NegOr

By Mary Judaline Partlow

February 17, 2020, 7:21 pm

<p>The Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City. <em>(File photo by Judy F. Partlow)</em></p>

The Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City. (File photo by Judy F. Partlow)

DUMAGUETE CITY – A Belgian national and his Filipino wife who came from Wuhan, China are now in isolation at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) here after the man exhibited flu-like symptoms such as cough and sore throat upon arriving in the province.

This brings to 11 the total number of persons under investigation (PUIs) in relation to the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or Covid-2019.

The other PUIs had already been previously discharged from the hospital, the ninth individual during the last weekend.

All nine had tested negative of the Covid-2019, based on results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Capitol spokesperson and Public Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor on Monday said the couple arrived here on Sunday from Siquijor.

He said that based on the couple's timeline of travel, they had earlier left Wuhan for Taiwan and then to Manila on January 31. The following day, they flew to Bohol where they stayed for nine days. On Feb. 10, they took a boat from Bohol to Siquijor and stayed there for five days before proceeding to Dumaguete on Sunday.

Miraflor said the hotel where the couple had checked in reported to authorities that the man was coughing and complaining of sore throat.

The Provincial Health Office immediately sent a team to pick the couple up and placed them under quarantine at the NOPH while nasopharyngeal specimens were taken for testing at the RITM, Miraflor said.

While the 14-day quarantine period for the couple had already lapsed since Jan. 31, granting they were cleared by authorities at the other destinations they had visited, Miraflor said according to the Department of Health here, it is better to undergo quarantine and provide them medical attention.

Miraflor said they find it unusual for the couple to have come to the Philippines when a travel ban from Wuhan, China is in effect since the outbreak of the novel disease that has killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Chinese, and infected thousands more.

He hopes that the provinces of Bohol and Siquijor are also monitoring travelers, especially those coming from China and other countries covered by the travel ban to prevent the spread of the Covid-2019 here.

In Negros Oriental, Governor Roel Degamo has issued an executive order requiring these travelers to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine and to be placed in isolation at the NOPH if they manifest flu-like symptoms. (PNA)

 

 

 

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