The Philippines’s first case of monkeypox has been put in home isolation to recover, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire told a radio interview that the 31-year-old patient, who arrived from overseas on July 19, has no more symptoms.
“Pinapagaling na lang ang kanyang rashes sa katawan (Just waiting for the rashes on the body to heal),” she said.
Vergeire said that they will implement the 21-day isolation [period] before allowing the patient to go out.
The DOH has identified 10 contacts of the patient are now being monitored daily.
The patient was tested and confirmed positive for Monkeypox via Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction or RT-PCR on July 28.
“Our surveillance systems immediately detected Monkeypox. We immediately took care of and isolated the patient to keep the disease from spreading,” Vergeire said.
“Fast contact tracing has identified the close contacts, to halt transmission. Let us continue to be vigilant, to follow our health protocols, and to get the right information only from DOH and its partner agencies,” the DOH official added.
