Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that Japanese experts will assist the Philippines in testing potential cases of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque said that Japan will send a primer, a genetic sequence that determines whether a coronavirus is present in the suspected case.
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“Tumatagal ang panahon dito sa Australia e. Sabi ko, no, kailangan magkaroon tayo ng sariling kakayanan. Tutulong ang Japanese na magbibigay po sa atin nitong primer,” he said.
He added that the primer is expected to arrive today.
Duque stressed the need for the Philippines to check suspected cases on its own capacity as the nCoV outbreak continues to spread.
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The country’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) can check the presence of the virus but cannot identify whether it is nCoV or not.
The health chief said they are monitoring 23 suspected cases of nCoV across the country.
