Health Sec. Francisco Duque Addresses Possibility Of Local Covid-19 Transmission
POSSIBILITY OF LOCAL COVID-19 TRANSMISSION – The Philippines had confirmed its 4th and 5th case of the new coronavirus.
South Korea had been placed under RED ALERT for infectious diseases. Meanwhile, Italy had been placed under alert level 3 with community-wide local transmissions.
The spread of the coronavirus worldwide had caused several large scale events to shut down. Most notably, the Umrah, a year-round pilgrimage had been suspended in Saudi.
Two Filipinos tested positive for COVID-19. One had a travel history to Japan, while the other had “no history of travel”. This caused concerns about possible local transmission.
Meanwhile, two foreign nationals who had visited the country tested positive for the virus. However, Health Secretary Francisco Duque had this to say:
The onset of the symptoms on March 2 points to possible infection before the patient traveled to the Philippines
Based on a report from ABS-CBN, the first case was a 38-year-old Taiwanese man who stayed in the Philippines from Feb.28 to March 5. He tested positive on March 5 after his return to Taiwan.
Additionally, the second foreigner was a 44-year-old Japanese man who tested positive for COVID-19. He stayed in Metro Manila since Feb 21. to 28
However, the Japanese man had also visited other virus-hit countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
The extensive travel history of the patient suggests possible contraction of the disease in another country
The outbreak of the new coronavirus had already spread worldwide. Countries such as South Korea, Japan, and Italy, have had an increased number of cases.
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