A three-year-old Chinese child was brought to a hospital in Iloilo City on Wednesday, Jan. 29, after manifesting a sign of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The child is currently at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district for a medical consultation, said Dr. Jane Juanico, head of the Infectious Disease Section of the Department of Health – Center for Health and Development (DOH-CHD) in Western Visayas.
“We are closely coordinating with our referral hospital as to the status of the patient,” she told reporters.
“It is part of the general advisory for all travelers who experience any flu-like symptom to seek immediate medical consultation in any health facility,” Juanico added.
The child, who stayed at a hotel in the city with his/her parents, has a fever.
It was the first time, according to Juanico, that a foreign tourist in Iloilo sought consultation at a DOH referral hospital.
Juanico said it will depend on the assessment of the referral hospital if the child will be classified as patient under investigation or PUI for the 2019-nCoV.
“If they (parents and child) will be assessed and later on ma–identify as PUIs, they will be placed on admission for further observation,” she said.
Juanico assured that the referral hospitals have dedicated isolation rooms for such case.IMT
