WHO raises Covid-19 risk to ‘very high’

VERY HIGH’ RISK --- World Health Organization  Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (center) speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland on Covid-19. In an update, WHO has raised its risk assessment of the deadly disease from ‘high’ to ‘very high.’ (PHOTO BY XINHUA, MINDANAO EXPOSE')

GENEVA --- The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the risk assessment of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) from “high” to “very high” at global level. 

“Our epidemiologists have been monitoring these developments continuously and we have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of Covid-19 to very high at a global level,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a daily briefing.

WHO is concerned over the continued increase in the number of cases and affected countries over the last few days.

Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Nigeria have all reported their first cases last February 27, with all the cases having links to Italy.

Despite the increase, there is no evidence of the virus spreading freely in communities, said the WHO chief, underlining that there’s still the chance of containing it “if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts.”

“There is a window of opportunity [to contain the virus], although it’s narrowing more and more by the day,” the WHO chief said, reiterating that strategies starting from containment can work.

Also at the briefing, Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, explained that raising the risk assessment at the global level “doesn’t make a legal difference to the way in which states have to act,” but essentially reflects what’s happening at the global level.

“We’re on the highest level of alert and risk assessment in terms of spread and impact, but that’s not to alarm and scare people,” he said.

Instead, it’s to get countries to understand that it’s in their control to contain the virus. “It’s a reality check for every government” to wake up and get ready for the virus, Ryan said. (By Xinhua / The Manila Times)

PH monitoring

In the Philippines, Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco Duque III reported that the number of patients under Covid-19 monitoring dropped to 30 from 64 last February 27.

He also told a press briefing last February 28 that there were five Filipinos from the cruise liner Diamond Princess who have coronavirus symptoms.

One of the Filipinos is a 39-year-old, who experienced coughing, and two, aged 34 and 27, who had sore throat Thursday (February 27) night.

They are among the 445 repatriates from the Diamond Princess who are under a 14-day quarantine at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

Duque said 80 Filipinos from the ship tested positive for the virus and that 10 of them had recovered.

Eight of the recovered patients are back in the country and did not undergo quarantine.

“However, they are being monitored closely by the local Epedimiology Bureau,” Duque said.

The Health department also announced last February 28  that two of the first three patients tested negative for the disease, while the laboratory result of the other patient is pending.

As of 12 noon Friday (February 28), the DoH also reported that two more patients experienced sore throat, bringing the number of symptomatic patients from the Diamond Princess to five.

Duque said the number of patients under investigation (PUIs) for Covid-19 had dropped sharply.

He added that 591 out of 621 PUIs had been discharged, bringing the patients under watch to 30.

“We are observing a steady decrease in the number of PUIs admitted in our health facilities and DoH is bent on sustaining this downward trend,” said the Health chief.

The Philippines has also intensified maritime security measures against Covid-19. As a result, the Philippine Coast Guard detained a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship after its skipper falsified its port clearance details.

Coast Guard spokesman Cdre. Armand Balilo said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Joel Garcia ordered the detention of the MV Harmony 6, which sailed from Changzhou, China on February 18.

On the way to its next port of call, Poro Point in La Union, the crew turned off its Automatic Identification System from February 19 until it arrived in Philippine waters on February 23. (JOHN ERIC MENDOZA, THE MANILA TIMES, MINDANAO EXPOSE')

Quarantine sites amid Covid-19 scare

MANILA --- The Duterte government is considering developing some facilities in Visayas and Mindanao as potential quarantine sites for the next batches of Filipino repatriates from countries hit by the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Friday (February 28).

Nograles said the plan was pitched, as the government readies itself for the possible “worst-case scenario,” considering that cases of Covid-19 continue to soar world-wide.

“So we’ve identified several potential sites for quarantine sa Visayas and Mindanao. Again, these are all just in preparation for the worst-case scenario. It’s better prepared and that we’re prepared for any eventuality,” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

All Filipinos who returned home from Covid-19 hit countries have been quarantined at the New Clark City’s Athlete Village in Capas, Tarlac.

Over 400 Filipinos aboard M/V Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan are currently undergoing the prescribed 14-day quarantine period. Three of them were admitted to a public hospital in Pampanga after exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19.

Nose and throat swabs from the three, who have coughs and colds, have already been sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for testing.

Nograles said the government also sought to tap the rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija as a quarantine site for overseas Filipinos who wish to come home amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We’re also looking at Fort Magsaysay because that was the initial quarantine facility that we’re looking at before going to Athletes Village. So, if in case we need to repatriate more of our countrymen from other countries including Macau, Fort Magsaysay is something that we’re looking,” he said.

At present, more than 3,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported outside China.

The Philippines has confirmed three cases of Covid-19, involving three Chinese nationals from the central city of Wuhan, China where the virus originates.

There is no existing case of new coronavirus in the Philippines, since one of the three Covid-19 patients died, while the remaining two already recovered from the disease. (Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos, PNA, MINDANAO EXPOSE')