MANILA, Philippines — There are now 56 patients under investigation on suspicion of having the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV, the Department of Health (DOH) announced Friday.
“Currently we have I think 56 if I am not mistaken. It’s 56 patients under investigation,” DOH epidemiology bureau head Dr. Ferchito Avelino said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source.
On Thursday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque announced that 29 patients are being investigated on suspicion that they are infected with the virus.
Of this number, 18 are in Metro Manila, four are in Central Visayas, three are in Western Visayas, and one each in Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Davao Region.
The Philippines has confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus infection—a 38-year-old Chinese woman who came from Wuhan City in China, the epicenter of the outbreak and is now being treated at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
Avelino said the woman is now “well” but was having an “occasional cough.”
Edited by MUF