Duque orders nCoV contact tracing on travelers to be completed in 2 days

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III gave his subordinates two days to complete the contract tracing of plane passengers who traveled with the Chinese couple who were found infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019 nCoV ARD).

“Contact tracing should finish as soon as possible. [DOH epidemiologists] should work with the [Philippine National Police], [Department of the Interior and Local Government] to do an aggressive contact tracing in 48 hours,” Duque said. “Titignan kung kakayanin. Iyan ang pag-uusapan ngayon.”

It was revealed during a Tuesday Senate hearing that only 17 percent of the 331 plane passengers who had traveled with the Chinese couple had been tracked by authorities.

This was because airlines were refusing to release passengers' contact details to protect their privacy.

The first case of nCoV in the Philippines was a 38-year-old Chinese female, while the second confirmed nCoV case was a 44-year-old Chinese male.

The 44-year-old Chinese subsequently died while confined at the San Lazaro Hospital - the first nCoV death outside China.

The Chinese couple, both of whom hailed from Wuhan - the epicenter of the nCoV outbreak - arrived in the Philippines last January 21, flying in from Hong Kong.

Incompetence, not failed leadership

Duque meanwhile maintained that he was not to blame for the slow contact tracing.

“That is not a question of failure of leadership. The Epidemiology Bureau have the competence, they know what they are doing, they are familiar with the protocols,” said Duque.

"It is not for the Secretary of Health to go into those operational details," he added.

“The Health Secretary orchestrates an ensemble," Duque argued further. "I am not going to get somebody to teach him to play the violin. I would expect him to know how to play the violin as the orchestrator."

The Health Secretary said that that matter was a question of incompetence on the part of some of those who formed part of the "orchestra."

"We need to assess them for their competencies for that particular job.” — DVM, GMA News