CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Health has confirmed four new cases of the Covid-19 in the country, bringing the total number of cases to 10 as reported in a released statement by the DOH on Sunday.
Each of the samples from all the new confirmed cases were tested March 7, and all results were released on March 8. The DOH is currently investigating all the cases and gathering patients’ information from respective hospitals. DOH is also currently in coordination with concerned local government units for localized response and implementation of infection prevention and control measures.
The 7th case is a 38-year-old Taiwanese male. The patient has a history of contact with a Taiwanese foreign national who visited the Philippines and tested positive for Covid-19 in Taiwan. The patient has no history of travel outside of the country and his symptoms started last March 3.
The 8th case is a 32-year-old Filipino male with history of travel to Japan within the past 14 days. Onset of symptoms began on March 5.
The 9th case is an 86-year-old American male with pre-existing hypertension and history of travel to USA and South Korea. His symptoms began on March 1.
The 10th case is a 57-year-old Filipino male with no history of travel outside of the country. He was reported to have had contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case. DOH is currently investigating details of his exposure.
All four new cases are admitted at an undisclosed private hospital.
“The DOH is committed to accurate and timely reporting of verified information on the Covid-19 health situation. We have been preparing for the possibility of localized transmission in the country. Now that there are confirmed cases of localized transmission, DOH and the Inter-agency Task Force are now implementing pre-planned measures to respond to the situation,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
“Upon confirmation of new cases, we immediately deployed additional surveillance teams and commenced contact tracing,” he added.
DOH urges all individuals who will be contacted by our surveillance teams to fully cooperate in our investigation and contact tracing activities. All individuals presenting with fever and/or respiratory symptoms with history of travel and exposure are also urged to get in touch with DOH and call the designated hotline at (02)8-651-7800 loc 1149-1150 for appropriate management and referral.
