DOH records 56 ‘nCoV-related health events’ in Philippines

The Philippines already recorded 56 "novel coronavirus-related health events" a few hours before noon, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) clarified on Friday.

A report on Dobol B sa News TV quoted DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Chito Avelino as initially saying these 56 cases involved  "persons under investigation" (PUIs) but Health spokesperson Eric Domingo would later clarify this figure as pertaining not to suspected cases but to "nCoV-related health events."

At a regular press briefing past noon, Avelino made the distinction between PUIs and nCoV-related health events.

He said nCoV-related health events involve symptomatic patients with travel history from any region in China in the past two weeks.

Persons under investigation, on the other hand, are those who had specifically traveled to Hubei province where Wuhan City—the center of the outbreak—is situated.

A couple in Quezon City were advised to undergo self-quarantine after they experienced back pains and revealed travel history from China.

The DOH confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus in the Philippines on Thursday, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to impose a travel ban on visitors from China's Hubei province as well as from other Chinese areas hit by the deadly virus.

On the other hand, Filipinos in China who would avail of the government's voluntary repatriation program will be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine as a precautionary measure.

The death toll in China ballooned to 213 on Friday morning while almost 10,000 have been infected as the virus spreads to 18 other countries.

The World Health Organization already declared the outbreak as a global health emergency. — RSJ/MDM, GMA News