At the height of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) during the Holy Week, some passengers of Etihad Airways flight EY 0424 complained that they “were treated like criminals, with police and health personnel with masks, knocking on their doors at the crack of dawn.” The Department of Health (DOH) claimed they have since apologized to the aggieved parties.
They had been tracked down because they had been on the same flight with a Filipino nurse from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who initially tested positive for MERS-CoV. After being placed under quarantine, the nurse, as well as his family members, have tested negative for the virus.
“On Monday, April 21, DOH Secretary Enrique Ona said he expects all passengers of Etihad Airways flight EY 0424 to test negative for MERS-CoV but the government will remain vigilant in tracking down all the other Etihad Airways flight EY 0424 passengers,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
The report noted: “So far, 373 of the 414 passengers have been contacted by health authorities. Of the 373, 100 have been tested and yielded negative results.” Ona explained that “it takes at least 12 hours from the time of testing to get the results.”
Photo from MorgueFile
