3 of 5 quarantined Pinoys in UAE tested negative for MERS-CoV

Three of five Filipino health workers quarantined in Abu Dhabi have been released after testing negative for Middle East Respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

“They were tested negative after a series of tests,” DFA spokesman Charles Jose told a press briefing.

Jose said the Filipinos, who were released from quarantine early this week, have not yet expressed interest in returning to the Philippines.

The two remaining Filipinos, on the other hand, are still awaiting their test results, Jose said.

“According to our embassy they are all safe and are doing well and on the road to recovery, but Abu Dhabi health authorities want to ensure that they will register a double negative result in their tests beyond the 14-day quarantine period,” Jose said.

Philippine diplomatic posts in the Middle East, he added, have not monitored new cases of Filipinos who may have contracted the virus.

There are no travel restrictions to and from the Arabian Peninsula, but the Philippine government urged Filipinos in the Middle East to exercise vigilance and practice health precautions for their own protection.

Two Filipinos have died from the virus – a female nurse in Saudi Arabia last year and a male paramedic on April 11 this year.

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. —Michaela del Callar/KBK/JL, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more