Pinay nurse returns to Phl with MERS

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipina nurse who returned to the country last week from Saudi Arabia has tested positive for thr Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV), the Department of Health said yesterday.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the 37-year-old nurse, identified as “AP,” tested positive for MERS-CoV in Dammam on Aug. 25.

The nurse arrived in the country on Aug. 29 on Saudi Airlines flight SV870. She did not wait for the results of her laboratory tests.

She is currently confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City for confirmatory tests.

Leopoldo Vega, the hospital’s executive director, said the nurse and her husband are being monitored for the virus.

Despite this, Ona maintained that the Philippines remains MERS-CoV free as she got infected abroad.

He said the nurse and the DOH were informed that she tested positive for MERS-CoV by her supervisor in a hospital in Dammam.

According to Ona, AP took the same flight with another Filipina nurse “CB” of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, who was also tested for MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia before they returned home.

But unlike AP, the tests conducted on CB yielded negative results.

“She tested negative but they took the same flight. We found out that upon their arrival in the Philippines, AP slept in CB’s house in Bulacan before taking Cebu Pacific flight SJ997 for General Santos on Aug. 31. As a precautionary measure, we also contacted her,” Ona said.

The DOH brought CB and her eight family members to the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City for medical tests and isolation.

The nurse and her two grandchildren developed fever last Tuesday. The throat swab samples collected from them were examined and they all tested negative for the virus, the DOH said.

The DOH said it is monitoring all passengers of Saudi Airlines and of Cebu Pacific who boarded the planes with the two nurses. 

Ona urged the co-passengers of the two nurses to report to the DOH or its accredited hospitals so they could be examined.

“We have activated our task force to locate the passengers. We appeal to them to cooperate with the DOH to protect themselves and their families. We are ready to do all the necessary precautions to prevent MERS-CoV from spreading here,” he said.

The DOH got hold of the passengers’ manifest of the two airlines and is considering publication of the names of the passengers if efforts to contact them fail.

Meanwhile, the Philippine embassy in Riyadh reiterated yesterday that Alert Level 2 (restriction phase) remains in effect in Yemen due to political and security tensions there.

“All Filipinos are advised to restrict non-essential movement and avoid public places,” the embassy said.

Under Alert Level 2, Filipinos with existing labor contracts may return to Yemen. However, the deployment of new hires will remain suspended. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Edith Regalado