ZAMBOANGA City– Acting City Mayor Cesar Iturralde has ordered the City Health Office and other concerned government agencies to give “special concerns” on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERSCoV) with the preventive measures in place.
Iturralde issued the statement after the Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed on Monday that there is a tested positive case of MERSCoV in the country.
Iturralde said this city is vulnerable to the entry of MERSCoV since it is the gateway to the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
This city is the home port of a commercial vessel that plies twice a week the Zamboanga-Malaysia route via Sandakan City in Sabah.
“There is a great possibility we might have (MERSCoV),” Iturralde said in a press conference Monday at City Hall.
He said that preventive measures should be in place to prevent the entry of MERSCoV to this city through the southern backdoor.
The DOH confirmed that the MERSCoV patient is a 36-year-old man, who is being treated at the negative pressure room of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, Muntinlupa.
Health Secretary Janette Garin said the patient is on stable condition. pna
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