Filipinos among PUIs in Central Visayas

CEBU CITY, Philippines — There are now Filipino citizens who are among the 29 patients under investigation (PUIs) in Central Visayas due to the 2019 novel coronavirus as of February 5, 2020.

Department of Health in Central Visayas  (DOH-7) Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas, in joint press conference with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia at the Capitol on Wednesday, February 5, 2020, said 21 of these PUIs are admitted in hospitals in Cebu, while seven are in Negros Oriental, and one in Bohol.

LIVE: DOH-7 Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia talk about updates on the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). | Rosalie Abatayo #CDNDigital

Posted by CDN Digital on Tuesday, February 4, 2020

“Wala ko’y aggregated data but there are  Filipinos, locals, among the PUIs,” Bernadas told Cebu reporters.

“They are all that were found out to be symptomatic in all the contact tracings that we have conducted,” the health official added.

According to Bernadas, PUIs are “those persons who have been in contact with a positive case of nCoV or those that have recently traveled to China who are symptomatic.”

Bernadas said that a number of the new PUIs in Central Visayas are those who have been in contact with the Chinese couple who were the first confirmed cases of nCoV in the country. 

The Chinese couple, aged 44 and 38,  reportedly landed in Cebu via Mactan Cebu International Airport before flying in to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental.

Last Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, the DOH confirmed the 44-year-old Chinese man to be the first death in the country related to the 2019-nCoV. /bmjo