MANILA, Philippines — Three more foreigners with history of travel to the Philippines contracted the coronavirus disease, the Department of Health said Wednesday.
At a briefing with the House committee on health, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said foreign nationals from Japan, Singapore and South Korea tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting the Philippines.
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Duque said a Japanese who stayed in the Philippines for nine days is currently confined at a hospital in Japan.
A Singaporean was found to have been infected with the new virus after staying in the Philippines for only three days.
A South Korean with an “extensive” travel history in the country also tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The patient stayed in the Philippines for two months, Duque said.
The DOH previously confirmed that a 38-year-old Taiwanese male, a 44-year-old Japanese man and a woman based in Australia contracted the infection after returning to their countries from the Philippines.
But Duque said last week that the two men may have caught the virus elsewhere.
The incubation period of the new virus—between catching the virus and starting to have symptoms—range from one to 14 days, most commonly around five days.
The total count of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 33 on Tuesday.
Of the confirmed infections, two have recovered, while 30 are still being treated in hospitals. The Philippines reported one death in February—a tourist from Chinese city of Wuhan.
The virus has spread to over 100 countries and territories with more than 117,000 cases of infection. The global death toll reached 4,250 on Wednesday.