22 more Pinoys from cruise ship recover from virus

MANILA, Philippines, March 3 ------ Twenty-two Filipinos are set for repatriation from Japan after recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that they contracted while onboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess, the Department of Health (DOH) announced yesterday. Assistant Health Secretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said the Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases is scheduled to discuss today the details of the repatriation, specifically the date and time of the Filipinos’ trip home. She said the 22 Filipinos were discharged from a hospital facility in Japan after they recovered from the virus that infected a total of 80 of the 538 Filipino crew and passengers of the Japan-based cruise ship.

Last week, the first 10 of those infected recovered and were sent home. Vergeire also said that 14 of the 445 Filipinos from Diamond Princess earlier repatriated had shown signs and symptoms of COVID-19 while undergoing quarantine at New Clark City (NCC) in Capas, Tarlac. The 14 repatriates, now categorized as persons under investigation (PUIs), were brought to an undisclosed DOH-referral hospital facility for management and treatment. She added 10 of the repatriates have tested negative for the virus while four have pending laboratory results. “Eight of them are set to return to the quarantine facility at NCC because they are no longer symptomatic. They will be completing their 14-day quarantine period,” she said.

As this developed, Vergeire said the DOH and the Cebu provincial government are tracking down a South Korean man who – along with 25 other Koreans – arrived in the province last Feb. 25 from Daegu City, considered ground zero of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea. Only the man in the group remains unaccounted for, Vergeire said. She noted that the man gave “erroneous information” on the hotel where he was supposed to stay. “This male South Korean initially when he went to Cebu, he gave that detail with our ports that he is staying in this specific hotel. But when they went there to look for him he was not there,” she added.

The DOH is coordinating with airline authorities to determine if the man had already left the country. The 26 Koreans arrived in Cebu separately, a day after the Philippine government had declared a travel ban on North Gyeongsang province, including Daegu City and Cheongdo county. While none of the Koreans had displayed symptoms of COVID-19, Vergeire said it is still important to locate them because they came “from Daegu, a place which is of high risk for all of us.” “We would just like to be very sure to find these 26 Koreans, have them quarantined and if they show signs and symptoms, you test them,” she said.

DOH records showed that of the 26 Koreans, 15 left the Philippines last Sunday while two were set to return to their country yesterday. One of them is in Angeles City while seven are in Cebu, undergoing isolation in their hotels. The DOH official also stressed that while the number of PUIs has dropped, the government is not letting its guard down and is still bracing for a possible local transmission of the virus. Vergeire said the number of PUIs has decreased to 43. She said 13 of the patients under observation are repatriates being quarantined in New Clark City.

“The decrease in the number of patients under investigation being admitted is welcome news to all. This may be attributed to our strengthened surveillance, early travel restrictions and enhanced laboratory processes,” Vergeire told reporters at Malacañang. “But this is not enough reason to let our guards down. The DOH will continuously assess the situation and improve its surveillance protocols based on evidence and further developments,” she added. “We are more than ready to cater to the needs of our kababayan should they test positive for COVID-19. We are also geared up for the possibility of local transmission,” Vergeire said. “Definitely we already have contingency planning... We are trying to expand our capacity so we would be capacitated to respond to this kind of situation,” she added.

Vergeire said healthcare workers are adequately equipped and trained in handling positive cases.

Source: philstar.com