PNoy orders DOH to prevent spread of MERS virus

President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday directed the Department of Health (DOH) to prevent the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), after the country recorded its first ever case.

In a statement, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Aquino had directed acting DOH Secretary Janette Garin "to ensure that all necessary preventive measures are taken" against MERS-CoV.

The DOH earlier confirmed confirmed that a 32-year-old Filipina nurse afflicted with MERS-CoV is currently confined at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City.

At a separate press briefing, presidential spokesman Secretary Edwin Lacierda said the DOH is already locating individuals who were on the same flight as the MERS-CoV patient from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines.

"We have done all the necessary steps to ensure that make sure that those who have come into contact with this person has been informed, has been coordinated with," Lacierda said Wednesday.

He also enjoined the media to help the government disseminate information about MERS-CoV, a strain of coronavirus first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

According to the World health Organization, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause a range of human illnesses, from common colds to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

As of February 5, the WHO said at least 356 have died from the virus, while there have been 971 confirmed cases.

As this developed, airport and quarantine officials have intensified their monitoring of passengers especially from the Middle East.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Bureau Of Quarantine are using a thermal scanner to check the body temperature of incoming passengers, GMA News stringer Ariel Fernandez reported Wednesday.

For its part, the Bureau of Quarantine is collecting yellow forms from passengers. It is also collating contact information such as phone numbers and address so that they can be located if a fellow passenger tests positive. —with Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News