In one weekend, the Philippines rapidly went from having no confirmed case of the dreaded novel coronavirus (nCoV) to becoming the first country outside of China to register an nCoV-related death.
The Department of Health announced Sunday that a 44-year-old man from Wuhan with an nCoV infection has died, marking the first such death outside of China.
He also represents the second confirmed case and in the Philippines as his traveling companion, a 38-year-old woman from Wuhan, was the country's first confirmed patient. Before they were diagnosed, the two had traveled to Cebu and Dumaguete, before flying back to Manila. Her illness was announced Jan. 30.
Both patients are from Wuhan, China, the center of the virus outbreak that has killed more than 300 and infected more than 14,000.
Both arrived in the Philippines via Hong Kong on Jan 21. The man was admitted to a hospital for pneumonia on Jan 25 after having a fever, cough, and sore throat.
Trying to put a positive spin on the developments, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III emphasized that these were “imported” cases and there was no evidence of local transmission. While this is indeed a reason to be thankful, it is no excuse for complacency. After all, a number of other countries such as the United States, have reported person-to-person transmission of the disease even when the carrier is showing no symptoms.
That we are the first country with a recorded death traced to nCoV is hardly reassuring that our hospitals will be able to cope with more confirmed cases.
We are also wary about government assurances that our health workers are adequately protected from infection as they treat the confirmed nCoV cases.
To allay public fears, Health officials must quickly show that they have progressed in their contact tracing, and that the people that the two confirmed cases came in contact with are being quarantined and monitored.
The nCoV outbreak in Wuhan was first reported in December—so authorities have been rather slow to react. For example, the government only banned the entry of Chinese nationals from Hubei province on Jan. 31, leaving a month-long window during which travelers could have spread the virus to the local population.
The nCoV outbreak is deadly serious, and we cannot afford to act like it is business as usual.
On the other hand, we shouldn't let our fears get the better of us and slip into racist actions, such as one private university which ordered its Chinese students to quarantine themselves for two weeks “to ensure a healthy and virus-free environment.”
We need to move forward with sober urgency.