The Department of Health has confirmed that there are four new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country. The total of confirmed cases is now ten.
“Samples from all the new confirmed cases were tested yesterday, March 7, and all results were released today, March 8,” the DOH said in a statement.
The DOH added that they are currently investigating all the cases and gathering patients’ information from respective hospitals.
“DOH is also currently in coordination with concerned Local Government Units and the Centers for Health Development for localized response and implementation of infection prevention and control measures,” the statement added.
The 7th case (PH7) is a 38-year-old Taiwanese male. The patient has a history of contact with a Taiwanese foreign national who visited the Philippines and tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan.
The patient has no history of travel outside of the country. His symptoms started to manifest last March 3.
The 8th case (PH8) is a 32-year-old Filipino male with a history of travel to Japan within the past 14 days.
The man is also admitted to a private hospital. His symptoms manifested on March 5.
The 9th case (PH9) is an 86-year-old American male with pre-existing hypertension and a history of travel to the USA and South Korea.
The 10th case (PH10) is a 57-year-old Filipino male with no history of travel outside of the country. He was reported to have had contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case.
“The DOH is committed to accurate and timely reporting of verified information on the COVID-19 health situation. We have been preparing for the possibility of localized transmission in the country. Now that there are confirmed cases of localized transmission, DOH and the Inter-agency Task Force are now implementing pre-planned measures to respond to the situation,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
“Upon confirmation of new cases, we immediately deployed additional surveillance teams and commenced contact tracing,” Duque added.
