Pinay nurse in Jeddah wants to go home amid MERS scare
A Filipina nurse in Saudi Arabia has sought assistance from the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah in order for her to come home amid the surging cases of MERS-CoV in the Middle Eastern country.
A report on “24 Oras” on Friday said the nurse went to the consulate after her employer did not allow her to return to the Philippines.
Although the nurse has yet to be diagnosed with MERS-CoV, or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, she said she hasn't been feeling well in the past few days.
“Nagkasakit ako noong April 2, almost one month na. Nagkaubo ako, dry cough, on and off fever. Pagkatapos nagka-diarrhea ako for two or three days yata yun, nag-vomitting, lahat-lahat na lang [pati] body pain,” the nurse, who wasn't identified, said in the report.
Known symptoms of MERS-CoV — a novel virus often referred to as the Middle East’s version of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) — include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhea.
A Reuters report said 126 people had died in Saudi Arabia since MERS was identified two years ago.
The “24 Oras” report said one of the nurse's colleagues had tested positive for MERS-CoV and is now recuperating at the hospital where they are working.
The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), meanwhile, said it has limited capabalities to extend assistance to the Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia and has appealed to the government to help them reach the nurses.
“It's very difficult [to reach them],” said Dr. Roger Tong-An, PNA president. “It's up to the Department of Foreign Affairs to look into [them].”
Three Filipinos, all of them medical workers in the Middle East, had already died from MERS-CoV. —KBK, GMA News
A report on “24 Oras” on Friday said the nurse went to the consulate after her employer did not allow her to return to the Philippines.
Although the nurse has yet to be diagnosed with MERS-CoV, or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, she said she hasn't been feeling well in the past few days.
“Nagkasakit ako noong April 2, almost one month na. Nagkaubo ako, dry cough, on and off fever. Pagkatapos nagka-diarrhea ako for two or three days yata yun, nag-vomitting, lahat-lahat na lang [pati] body pain,” the nurse, who wasn't identified, said in the report.
Known symptoms of MERS-CoV — a novel virus often referred to as the Middle East’s version of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) — include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhea.
A Reuters report said 126 people had died in Saudi Arabia since MERS was identified two years ago.
The “24 Oras” report said one of the nurse's colleagues had tested positive for MERS-CoV and is now recuperating at the hospital where they are working.
The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), meanwhile, said it has limited capabalities to extend assistance to the Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia and has appealed to the government to help them reach the nurses.
“It's very difficult [to reach them],” said Dr. Roger Tong-An, PNA president. “It's up to the Department of Foreign Affairs to look into [them].”
Three Filipinos, all of them medical workers in the Middle East, had already died from MERS-CoV. —KBK, GMA News
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