Palace says PHL’s capacity vs MERS-CoV remain strong

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MANILA — Malacanang on Monday assured the public that the country continues to be ready and capable of addressing threats of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV).

“The Philippines, through the Department of Health (DOH), is fully ready and capable of detecting, isolating and treating any reported case of MERS-CoV in the country,” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.

This was made after the DOH confirmed that a 36-year-old foreigner who came from the Middle East was tested positive for MERS-CoV, the second case in the Philippines.

Citing statements from Health Secretary Janet Garin, Coloma said the patient is still in isolation at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) but has shown improvements based on further tests.

“President (Benigno) Aquino (III) has tasked the DOH to tighten surveillance and quarantine measures at ports of entry and to ensure the prompt reporting by all hospitals of patients who show symptoms of the disease for immediate isolation, treatment and contact tracing,” he added.

The DOH said the patient was referred to the RITM at about 11:30 a.m. last Saturday and results of the test released about 5 p.m. of the same day showed that he had a low viral load of MERS-CoV.

Eight individuals whom he had close contact with are now being monitored and one of whom is also confined in the RITM because of cough. The seven others were placed under house quarantine.

Symptoms of MERS-CoV include sever acute respiratory illness like fever, cough and shortness of breath.

The first MERS-CoV case in the country was registered in February 2015 after a pregnant Filipina nurse, who came from the Middle East, tested positive for the virus. She overcame the virus after 18 days of hospital confinement.