The three-year-old Chinese child who underwent a medical examination at Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City tested negative for the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
The Department of Health (DOH-6) received the test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila Monday morning, Feb. 3.
“It was negative. The child is ready for discharge from the [hospital],” Dr. Jane Juanico, head of the Infectious Disease Cluster of the DOH-Center of Health Development, said in a press conference Monday afternoon.
The child was among the four persons under investigation (PUIs) in Western Visayas who yielded negative results for the deadly coronavirus.
The DOH-6 recorded eight PUIs as of Feb. 3. Of the number, six are in Aklan and two in Iloilo City.
According to Juanico, the confirmatory testing results of a 31-year old Taiwanese national, who is also admitted at WVMC, and three other PUIs in Aklan are still pending.
The region’s health department also recorded seven persons under monitoring (PUMs). Broken down, three in Iloilo province, two in Iloilo City and one each in Aklan and Negros Occidental.
The PUMs in Iloilo province (three Chinese nationals in Banate town) are under home quarantine and the rest are confined in hospitals.
Juanico said PUMs are those with a history of travel or history of contact with a known confirmed case but do not manifest signs and symptoms.
If one has a history of travel and has close contact with one who is positive for nCoV and manifest fever, cough and cold, he or she is considered a PUI, she further explained.IMT
