TUGUEGARAO CITY -- The Department of Health in Cagayan Valley said there is no existing case of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the region.
Dr. Rio Magpantay, Director of DOH-Region 2, issued the information amid unconfirmed reports that a Chinese patient suspected of having contracted the disease had sneaked out of Cagayan Valley after being confined at the St. Anthony Hospital in Sta. Ana, Cagayan.
The regional epidemiology and surveillance unit of the DOH in the region said no confirmed case has been reported to its office.
“In all transparency, the alleged patient is no longer a person under investigation, and therefore, no case of the 2019 nCoV exists in our jurisdiction,” he added.
Magpantay has discouraged issuance of “false statements” and “mere speculations so as not to create panic and further hysteria.”
On Tuesday, he led a meeting of an interagency task force for preparedness and response from regional representatives of the Bureau of Quarantine, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Philippine National Police Aviation Security, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, disaster management councils, and health and education units to prevent the entry of the virus to the region.
A closed-door management meeting was held afterward, where officials later agreed to form and send task force members to monitor and screen passengers at “possible points of entry” of passengers for screening.
The incident command system was also activated for immediate response, he added.
Magpantay denied any cover-up, and said they have been transparent and “regularly inform the progress of the situation” in the region. (PNA)
