DOH: Pinay nurse tested negative for MERS-CoV


The Philippines remains free of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) as results of the second swab test on the Filipina nurse who tested positive in Saudi Arabia came back negative, the Department of Health said Friday.

According to Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, DOH spokesperson, the Filipina nurse "will be discharged today" from the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.

"We waited for the results from the RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine) din, and all results are negative," Suy said at a press briefing, explaining the delay in the announcement.

According to Lee Suy, the results from the RITM came in at 11 p.m. on Thursday.

The 37-year-old nurse, who hails from South Cotabato, arrived in the Philippines last August 28 from Saudi Arabia, where she works in the intensive care unit of a provincial hospital.
 
She returned to the country together with a fellow Filipina nurse via a Saudi Airlines flight.

Since she was taking care of a patient with MERS-CoV, the nurse underwent checkup and throat swabbing in Saudi Arabia after experiencing symptoms of the virus such as fever, cough, and colds, a report on "Unang Balita" on Thursday said.
 
She returned to the Philippines before she got the results and was informed on August 31 that she tested positive for MERS-CoV, prompting Philippine health officials to seek her for confirmation test.

Meanwhile, Suy said the test on the second nurse and her family also came back negative.

He added that response in this case has been faster than what happened in April, when a male Filipino nurse from the United Arab Emirates initially diagnosed with MERS-CoV returned to the country. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News

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