One is a Filipino man who flew back from Japan, and another with no travel record

St Luke's Medical Center Global City, at BGC Manila. Image Credit: Google StreetView

Dubai: Two new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Manila, according to Philippine health officials.

This brings the total number of cases in the Philippines to five, with one death (44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, who died on February 2, 2020) and two other patients — who both reportedly recovered.

The first new case was identified as a Filipino citizen who few back recently from Japan.

On Saturday (March 7, 2020), the management of the Bonifacio Global City, one of Manila's commercial districts, said they are working closely with the Taguig City government and the Philippines Department of Health "after a confirmation that an employee of Deloitte Philippines has tested positive for COVID-19."

In a public announcement on Facebook, the St. Luke's Medical Center revealed that its Global City (Taguig) branch managed a patient who tested positive for COVID-19.

The patient was transferred to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), a health research facility based in Muntinlupa, Philippines.

The hospital assured that the patient was "identified right away and exposure was limited as he did not enter the main hospital premises and main emergency room."

Health officials identified one of the two new cases as a 48-year-old Filipino man who recently visited Tokyo, Japan.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he man returned to the Philippines on February 25 and started having chills and fever on March 3. He tested positive on March 5.

Duque said he is in stable condition.

Two new cases

Health officials said another COVID-19 case is Filipino man who has not traveled out of the country recently. He is one of two new cases of coronavirus disease or COVID-19 in the country.

HEALTH OFFICIAL SAYS Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the 62-year-old Filipino who contracted the disease has no known travel to any country with confirmed coronavirus cases, but he regularly visited a Muslim prayer hall in Barangay Greenhills, San Juan City.

Duque said: "It can be considered as a local case... The absence of travel is a clear indication that this is a local case," he said in a media briefing.

Community-based spread?

Duque clarified that the new local case cannot be considered the start of the community-based spread of coronavirus in the country.

"There is no transmission to speak of as of yet because we only have one. We're doing contact tracing to establish whether or not there are other cases or clustering of cases. But now it's premature to say there is a local transmission," he said.

No widespread transmission in the Philippines

WHO Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe in a briefing earlier said, "even the fifth case is a local transmission."

He stressed that there is no widespread transmission since what the Philippines has now are two "isolated cases in two different localities in Metro Manila.''

The two news COVID-19 patients were transferred to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), a health research facility based in Muntinlupa, Philippines. Image Credit: Wikipedia

Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergerie said a relative who has been in close contact with the man has shown flu-like symptoms.

Quarantined

She said the relative was quarantined in a hospital and tested for coronavirus.

The WHO said there is no need to close down the unnamed Muslim prayer hall over one confirmed case, but San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Friday ordered the immediate disinfection and temporary closure of the place.

Duque urged those who visited the worship area who have fever or respiratory symptoms to call the DOH hotline at (02)8-651-7800.

Zamora added that the confirmed case was not from San Juan but he was confined in the city's Cardinal Santos Medical Center and diagnosed with severe pneumonia.