Palace: 100 passengers negative for MERS virus

MANILA, Philippines - At least 100 of the 414 passengers of Etihad Airlines Flight EY 0424 that arrived in the country on April 15 tested negative for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, according to Malacañang.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said they were waiting for the results of tests on 73 of the 173 passengers that had been reached by health personnel as of 8 a.m. yesterday.

He said President Aquino ordered the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronaVirus to intensify its efforts in locating more passengers of the Etihad flight.

Coloma said the remaining passengers should coordinate directly with the DOH through its 24-hour hotlines. Landline numbers are 711-1001 and 711-1002 and mobile telephone numbers 0922-884-1564, 0920-949-8419 and 0915-772-5621.

A Filipino nurse on the Etihad flight initially tested positive for MERS in the United Arab Emirates where he came from, but new tests here showed he no longer carried the virus.

Come forward

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the 174 passengers who have yet to undergo testing should submit themselves to simple nose and throat swab samples examination at the nearest hospital of the department as a health precaution.

DOH program manager for Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases Lyndon Lee Suy urged the remaining passengers of the Etihad flight to come forward to be tested.

“We are implementing the Quarantine Act that if there is a threat to public health, you are all obliged, warranted, directed – or whatever you want to call it – to submit yourself to testing and quarantine. There is also an international law on this,” said Lee Suy.

The DOH had the manifest of EY 0424 published in The STAR as part of its contact tracing activities.

“We are now able to track down many passengers and there are many others who are themselves calling,” he said.

Specimens

Nose and throat swab specimens are taken from passengers and sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for analysis. Pending the release of the results, the passengers are quarantined in a hospital by the DOH.

Lee Suy said it usually takes up to 12 hours for the results to come out but due to the arrival of many specimens for testing, the turnaround time is now 48 hours.

“The observation period, technically, is 14 days. That is the incubation period – from the moment you are exposed to the virus up to the time you develop symptoms. But why wait for 14 days? What if you are already incubating and you infect others?” he said.

Under observation

A 32-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who arrived from Riyadh at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday was detected to have high fever and brought to the RITM for observation.

At least 12 OFWs, all passengers of the Etihad flight, are under observation at different hospitals, Chief Superintendent Jesus Gatchalian, Calabarzon police director, said.

Fourteen persons, residents of Cavite, were also invited for testing and brought to various hospitals in Dasmariñas City, Noveleta, Bacoor, Imus, Amadeo and Rosario.

“Actually, only eight workers in Cavite are listed in the manifest of the Etihad Flight EY 0424, who were allegedly affected by the virus. But we also want to be sure of the safety of their households, so we also invited them for tests,” a police official said.

Ramoncito Magnaye, medical director of Batangas Medical Center, said two of nine suspected MERS patients tested negative and were released from hospital.

Police have also located four OFWs in Cainta, Angono, Pililia and Antipolo in Rizal province and one in Quezon province.

Five people in Negros Occidental are also under observation, according to Glen Alonsabe, head of the DOH-6 Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.

The police are also locating five Quezon City residents.

Superintendent Ramon Pranada, commander of the Quezon City Police District-Station 7, said medical personnel from the RITM had cleared a woman and her four relatives on Sunday morning.

Reasonable force

Police officers are directed to employ “reasonable force” in accordance with the Quarantine Law of 2004 to compel the passengers of the Etihad flight to submit themselves for medical examination, said PNP Directorate for Operations chief Director Ricardo Marquez.

“We will assist through our police powers employing persuasive means to compel them for their own good,” Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office, said. “We are present in all the localities down to the municipal and city level, so we can help DOH locate the airline passengers.”

He also reminded policemen to “as much as possible limit their contact with the airline passengers.”

Policemen providing assistance to DOH personnel were advised to take precautionary measures such as wearing personal and protective equipment, avoid close contact with suspected infected persons and wash hands thoroughly after each operation.

No travel restriction

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said there are no travel restrictions to and from the Arabian peninsula amid the MERS scare.

The DFA and the DOH, however, advised Filipinos staying and residing in the Middle East, especially in the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to take the necessary precautionary measures against the disease.

The DFA and DOH also advised Filipinos in the Middle East not to panic and be taken in by false claims and rumors.

One rumor alleges that “UAE health authorities” have warned people to stay away for 72 hours from places such as malls, beaches hospitals, parks and other locations that are believed to be “hotspots for the new killing virus.”

The Health Authority of Abu Dhabi denied issuing this statement.

Educate OFWs

The Blas Ople Policy Center urged the government to educate all Middle East-bound OFWs on how to avoid MERS.

Susan Ople, center head, said around 3,000 OFWs are leaving the country daily and many of them are bound for Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.

Ople said the government should also prioritize in the health briefings OFWs who will be working in the medical field and allied services.

“Most government hospitals in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries continue to employ Filipino nurses and hospital staff. It would be prudent to include information about MERS-CoV in their pre-departure seminars as a mandatory topic,” she said.

Ople said the government could tap recruitment agencies in providing pre-departure orientation for Middle East-bound OFWs.

“Prevention remains to be the best tool, considering that health experts particularly from the World Health Organization are still studying the dreaded virus,” Ople pointed out.

She urged the DOH to set up a hotline for queries about MERS from families with relatives in the Middle East, some of whom may be returning home soon.

Precautions

Filipinos in the Middle East were encouraged to practice proper hand hygiene; proper cough etiquette; and avoid contact with farm and domesticated animals, including camels and with the sick or those infected with MERS-CoV.

Health workers are advised to strictly follow infection control protocols; visit the doctor, a hospital or health facility immediately if symptoms of MERS-CoV manifest; and comply with local health regulations and postpone any trip abroad if in close contact with a confirmed MERS-CoV patient, until after test results are negative. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Mayen Jaymalin, Pia Lee-Brago, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Reinir Padua, Ed Amoroso, Danny Dangcalan, Arnell Ozaeta, Rudy Santos