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23 persons in Philippines under investigation for nCoV —DOH


Twenty-three persons in the country are currently being investigated for possible novel coronavirus infection, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday.

At a press briefing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that 17 of the suspected cases were in Metro Manila and two were in Central Visayas.

Western Visayas, Mimaropa,Eastern Visayas, and Davao each has one suspected case.

Most of the persons under investigation (PUIs) are still awaiting results for screening tests being conducted by the country's Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

Results of six confirmatory tests from an Australian laboratory, on the other hand, are still pending.

"We expect to get results maybe late tomorrow afternoon or early Friday," Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said.

Duque said that four other patients who had been under investigation of the DOH already got discharged but will still be monitored.

One of the PUIs at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, a Chinese national, died on Wednesday of pneumonia. It has yet to be confirmed if he had the novel coronavirus.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan City, China last December.

As of Wednesday, over 5,900 confirmed cases were reported in China and the death toll rose to 132, according to its national health commission.

The World Health Organization said that 14 other countries including Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Australia, US, and France also have confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

There are no confirmed cases in the Philippines yet, according to the DOH. —NB, GMA News

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