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Three more Filipinos who returned from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship are exhibiting flu-like symptoms, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told CNN Philippines that the three have been transferred to a nearby hospital while awaiting test results, while 10 other quarantined Filipinos who showed similar symptoms have tested negative for the virus.
“We have expected this kind of circumstance. We have included in our plans the anticipation that some of them may show symptoms once they arrive home,” Vergeire said.
DOH Secretary Fransisco Duque III had earlier said that there’s still a possibility of being infected with the virus beyond the presumed 14-day incubation period.
The 13 who showed flu-like symptoms are among the 458 Filipinos under quarantine at New Clark City (NCC), who includes 440 of the Diamond Princess’ crew members, five tourists, and 13 repatriation team members. Those quarantined at NCC did not include the 80 Filipinos who were confirmed to have contracted the virus aboard the ship, all of whom were treated in hospitals in Japan.
Of those 80, 10 have so far recovered, and Duque confirmed that eight of those who had recovered flew home over the weekend and are under strict monitoring.
Read: 2 Diamond Princess passengers with symptoms test negative for COVID-19, 1 awaiting results
Meanwhile, a second Filipino worker tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore on Saturday, just after the country’s Health Ministry announced on Friday that the first Filipino worker in the city-state who contracted the virus had recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
According to Singapore’s Health Ministry, the new patient is a 41-year-old Filipina whose 61-year-old Singaporean employer also tested positive for the virus. Both of them are receiving treatment in separate isolation rooms at the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
As of Monday morning according to Vergeire, this brings the tally of Filipinos who contracted the virus overseas to 86: 80 aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, two in the United Arab Emirates, two in Hong Kong, and two in Singapore.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the tally of confirmed cases remains at just three — all Chinese nationals from Wuhan — including one who died, and two who reportedly recovered and left the country. Last week, the World Health Organization in a press briefing said that measures taken by nine countries including the Philippines — who have not reported a case for more than two weeks — show that the “virus can be contained.”
