The Department of Health (DOH) this week instructed hospitals to report suspected cases of coronavirus following an alert issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Health Secretary Enrique Ona ordered hospitals to report cases due to the new coronavirus to the National Epidemiology Center and patient samples may be sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for confirmatory testing.

He said the new coronavirus may be spread through person-to-person transmission although it remains not to be highly contagious based on the few patients reported so far.

The DOH also noted that there are no travel restrictions to and from countries where these cases have been reported but the Bureau of Quarantine shall continue to routinely screen in-bound passengers, regardless of country of origin, in ports of entry, for any signs of illness that may require temporary isolation in a health facility or at home.

Frequent hand washing, observance of cough etiquette and social distancing may help prevent spread of this illness and similar illnesses, the DOH advised.

Earlier, the WHO confirmed that 12 respiratory cases including five deaths were already reported from several countries like Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Kingdom. The WHO also urges health authorities to correctly report it as new coronavirus and not to describe these cases as “SARS-like” to avoid confusion.

Respiratory illness due to the new coronavirus maybe suspected in patients admitted in the intensive care unit in which severe respiratory difficulty is the primary sign or symptom. A laboratory confirmation is necessary since other similar diseases due to various pathogens are also very common.*