On Thursday (February 27), the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Hong Kong confirmed the second case of a Filipina who tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the city-state.
In an update, the foreign affairs department said the patient is currently in isolation in the hospital and is under close observation.
Another Filipina DH in Hong Kong Tests Positive for Coronavirus – DFA
The department also shared an update regarding the first Filipina confirmed to be positive for the coronavirus disease, as shared in a report by the Sun Star.
Accordingly, the DFA also gave an update about the first Filipina confirmed to be positive for the coronavirus disease.
“The first Filipina COVID-19-positive patient is scheduled to be released this week, provided that her test results remain negative for the disease,” the DFA stated in their official website.
As of Feb 27 (Thursday), only one Filipina has remained in quarantine as a patient under investigation (PUI). The patient is said to be healthy and asymptomatic and is set to be discharged on the following day, February 28.
Meanwhile, last Sunday (Feb. 23), the DFA also confirmed the first reported case involving a Filipino in Singapore who tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In the UAE, the second Filipino who contracted the coronavirus disease was confirmed by the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi reported on Saturday, February 22.
The first confirmed Filipino in the UAE, a 43-year-old Filipino, has been transferred to another medical facility and is being closely monitored.
In Japan, where a cruise ship was placed under quarantine for 14 days until February 19, a total of 80 Filipinos were reported to have been found positive for COVID-19, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said.
The DFA secretary added that 10 have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital.
For his part, Undersecretary Brigido Dulay reported that 49 Filipinos tested positive for the virus as of Saturday. Of the 49, two have recovered and have been discharged from Japanese hospitals.
As of early Thursday, the epidemic that broke out in Wuhan, China has infected more than 82,000 people and caused 2,800 deaths globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.
In other related news, a dog in Hong Kong has recently tested positive for the COVID-19 virus that’s killed at least 2,859 humans across the world over the last two months, according to the World Health Organization.
As per Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of WHO’s emergencies program, the canine tested “weakly positive,” meaning low levels of the virus were found in test results.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong scientists aren’t sure if the dog is infected or if it picked up the virus from a contaminated surface, Van Kerkhove said, adding that it is working with local authorities and scientists who tested the animal.
The dog reportedly belongs to a 60-year-old woman who first developed symptoms on Feb. 12 and later tested positive, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In line with this, the Hong Kong government issued a precautionary advisory that cats, dogs and other domesticated mammals whose owners test positive and are quarantined for COVID-19 would be collected and delivered to a “designated animal keeping” facility for quarantine and veterinary surveillance.
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