Cardinal Santos took care of COVID-19 case before transfer to RITM

A male patient who had no history of travels or contact with those who traveled to the countries which have confirmed cases of COVID-19 has tested positive for the disease, the Cardinal Santos Medical Center said on Friday.

In a Facebook post, the hospital said it took care of the patient who has since been transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

"CSMC has taken all the precautionary measures that all those who had contact with the patients have been processed following the protocols of DOH on quarantine, monitoring and observation," the CSMC said in a statement.

"So far, all those who have had contact with the patient have no symptoms," it added.

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier announced that the Philippines recorded two new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

One was a 48-year-old male with travel history to Japan while the other was a 62-year-old male with no recent trips abroad.

Considered a local case

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the case of the 62-year-old was considered a local case since he did not go out of the country.

The DOH said the Filipino senior citizen frequented a Muslim prayer hall in Barangay Greenhills, San Juan City.

"The absence of travel is a clear indication that this is a local case,"  Duque said.

Duque, however, clarified that it was premature to declare a local transmission.

"There is no transmission to speak of as of yet because we only have one. That's why we're doing contact tracing," Duque said.

During the press conference, Duque neither confirmed nor denied if the said case was the one reportedly admitted at CSMC in San Juan.

"We don't have that information. We cannot give you that information so we'll keep it at that because of privacy considerations," Duque said.

The two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 are now confined at the RITM.

Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, meanwhile, confirmed that a relative of the 62-year-old patient is also showing symptoms of respiratory illness.

Disinfection, temporary closure

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora has ordered the immediate disinfection and temporary closure of a prayer room in Barangay Greenhills that was frequented by the fifth case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines.

"Una sa lahat, base nga dito sa press conference ni Secretary Duque kanina, lumalabas na meron tayong pasyente na positibo sa coronavirus na confined dito sa San Juan at mandalas niyang pinuntahan itong prayer room," Zamora said in an interview.

According to Zamora, he also asked the management of Greenhills Shopping Center to sanitize the entire establishment to prevent the spread of the virus.

"[K]aya ang aking direktiba ngayon ay [...] ay i-sanitize at i-disinfect ang prayer room na ito at ang buong shopping center din," Zamora said.

Meanwhile, contact tracing for individuals who may have come in contact with the patient is ongoing.

"The Department of Health (DOH) and the City Government of San Juan are now conducting contact tracing to determine whom this patient has been in contact with since he displayed symptoms," Zamora said in a statement.  —Angelica Yang and Dona Magsino/NB, GMA News