MANILA — Concerned health agencies along with the Manila Health Department (MHD) is now “on alert” after receiving news that a Chinese female patient who earlier entered the country  was  tested positive for the  novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

In their  Facebook post, the  MHD said they have dispatched medical teams to  conduct contact tracing on the  path and areas where the unnamed Chinese female patient has  passed through, and those she had contact with in order to check the health status of these persons and refer them appropriately to hospitals.

The MHD surveillance teams are currently closely monitoring the health situation in Manila.     

MHD medical teams also started distributing surgical masks in the entry and exit points  of schools to students, school personnel and visitors as a precautionary measure.

A school in Manila early Friday morning prepared boxes of surgical face masks to be distributed to students, a day after the Department of Health (DOH) announced the first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines.      

In a statement released by the DOH on January 30, 2020, the Health Department said that a 38-year-old female Chinese patient under investigation (PUI) “is positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) after her laboratory results arrived today from the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.”

The DOH and the Manila Health Department are continuing to guarantee the public that all necessary precautionary measures are being taken to halt the spread of the virus.

The confirmed case arrived in the Philippines from Wuhan, China via Hong Kong last January 21, 2020.  The patient sought medical help and was admitted in one of the country’s government hospitals last January 25 after experiencing mild cough. She is currently asymptomatic (not showing signs of any virus).

“I assure the public that the Department of Health is on top of this evolving situation. We were able to detect the first confirmed case because of our strong surveillance system, close coordination with World Health Organization and other national agencies, and the utilization of DOH’s decision tool. We are working closely with the hospital where the patient is admitted and have activated the Incident Command System of the said hospital for appropriate management, specifically on infection control, case management, and containment. We are also implementing measures to protect the health staff providing care to these patients,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said in a statement issued on  January 30, 2020.

The DOH is also closely coordinating with the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) which includes representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of the  Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Labor and Employment  (DOLE),  Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).  The Task Force is scheduled to convene a high-level meeting on January 31, to discuss the first confirmed case and developments arising from this health event.

The Bureau of Quarantine remains on high alert and is in constant coordination with authorities from all ports of entry for stricter border surveillance.

The DOH assured that its health facilities are equipped and prepared to receive and care for PUIs and confirmed 2019-nCoV cases.

The  MHD and Manila City Hall officials assured the public in the city that they are on top of the situation and doing everything to stop the spread of the deadly virus. (Stacy Ang/IAMIGO/CPH)