2 returning OFWs quarantined amid MERS-CoV scare

(Updated 8:45 p.m.) Two returning female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were quarantined on Monday for possible cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a report on "24 Oras" said.

First placed under quarantine was a 32-year-old OFW who arrived from Riyadh on board Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 655. The OFW reportedly had high fever when she arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The second OFW arrived at 4 p.m. also on board a PAL plane from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. She was quarantined after she was found having sore throat.

Both OFWs were brought by NAIA's Bureau of Quarantine to the laboratory of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, Muntinlupa, for further tests.

The report did not name the two OFWs.

Immigration records showed that the OFW from Riyadh left Manila on March 29, 2014, worked there for a couple of weeks, but decided to go home after she got sick.

Meanwhile, immigration officers at the NAIA have started wearing protective face masks to avoid possible infection.

The Manila International Airport Authority has also installed additional thermal scanners to observe all incoming passengers coming from the Middle East and other parts of the world. The thermal scanners can detect detect if a passenger suffers from illnesses like fever.

Dr. Carlos dela Reyna Jr., Quarantine Medical Officer of NAIA Terminal 1, said the entry of the virus in the country can be prevented through strict monitoring on every passenger arriving at the airports and seaports.

First reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, MERS is a novel virus often referred to as the Middle East version of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. Signs of MERS include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhea.

A Filipino nurse who returned to the country from United Arab Emirates on board the Etihad flight last week was initially diagnosed with the virus but was later on cleared along with other passengers.— Joel Locsin and Elizabeth Fernandez/KBK, GMA News

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