DOH clarifies: 31 persons under probe, 56 ‘nCoV-related health events’

Health spokesperson Eric Domingo on Friday clarified that there are only 31 suspected cases of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines, and not 56 as claimed by another Health official.

The clarification came after Department of Health-Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Chito Avelino in a report on Dobol B sa News TV earlier in the day said that persons under investigation numbered to 56.

"As of 12 noon today we have two additional persons under investigation reported in the last 24 hours, which brings the total to 31," Domingo said at a press briefing.

"We have now 31 persons under investigation, including one of them which turned out to be the positive and verified case," he added.

One of the two new suspected cases on Friday was a Chinese national while the other one was an American. They are currently admitted in separate hospitals, according to the DOH.

Meanwhile, the 56 that was mentioned earlier turned out to be "novel coronavirus-related health events."

At the same press briefing, 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.

On Thursday, DOH confirmed the first case of nCoV in the Philippines. — Joahna Lei Casilao and Dona Magsino/MDM/LBG, GMA News