DOH urges hospitals to be vigilant against MERS-CoV

MANILA – In efforts to shun the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) in the

MERCOV Inter-Agency Task Force Meeting presided by DOH Sec. Garin (Photo from DOH’s Facebook page)

Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) urged hospitals to be vigilant against the virus by taking travel history of patients and immediate reporting of possible cases.

The DOH urged hospitals to have a triaging system which will enable them to identify if a patient has contracted MERS-CoV.

They also advised frontline health workers to screen patients who may be carriers of infectious diseases and check them for influenza-like symptoms.

Prepared for MERS-CoV

In Western Visayas, DOH Region 6 director Dr. Marlyn Convocar claimed that hospitals under their region were already equipped with facilities to accommodate MERS-CoV should it enter the country.

These hospitals are Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City; Western Visayas Sanitarium in Santa Barbara, Iloilo; Dumangas District Hospital in Dumangas, Iloilo; and the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

DOH Region 6 has also been monitoring airplane passengers arriving from foreign countries, especially those which have reported MERS-CoV cases.

The DOH has been working hand-in-hand with the Bureau of Quarantine.