Coronavirus Philippines Update: First Patient In Country Recovers, To Be Discharged Soon

The news that a 38-year-old woman from China who traveled to the Philippines is recovering from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) comes as a great relief to those convinced that contracting the virus is an automatic death sentence.

The latest test on the woman, conducted on Feb. 6, showed she was negative for the virus, according to the health department. Two consecutive negative tests are required before a patient may be discharged.

Three cases so far are confirmed in the Asian archipelago. The death of a 44-year-old man reported to be the traveling companion of the woman was the first fatality from the virus reported outside of China.

The other case is a 60-year-old woman from Wuhan who tested positive after leaving China. Her status is uncertain as her test samples were sent to Australia for analysis before the Philippines had the necessary equipment and supplies to do local testing.

The Australian test was negative, but a later test performed in the Philippines after the country had gained the testing capacities was positive. For some reason, the Philippines analysis was performed on a sample taken earlier than the Australian sample.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Molecular Biology, said, “This shows the novel coronavirus is not uniformly fatal and that recovery is more likely than dying from the disease. Please don’t panic and don’t share fake news.”

Filipino-American comedian Jo Koy in his stand-up routines often pokes fun at the traditional Filipina mother who uses Vicks-VapoRub as a cure-all for everything. There is a small element of truth as they often use the balm to treat a variety of ailments other than as cough relief.

The concern is that fake news about pets spreading the coronavirus, packages from China that harbor the virus and cures using garlic, mouthwash, and even sesame oil will be believed by the uninformed and that could stymie efforts to contain the coronavirus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Situation Report #20 from Feb. 9 shows a much starker picture inside of China. Of the 37,558 globally confirmed cases, over 99% are in China.

So far, there is no known transmission in the Philippines, but more than 200 cases are being monitored for possible exposure. 30 Filipinos arrived on a chartered plane from the Hubei province in China where the outbreak began. They are now under a 14-day quarantine in an isolated facility near Manila.