3 Koreans Tested for MERS-CoV Negative for the Virus – DOH
By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com
June 30, 2015 8:05 AM
Tourists in South Korea wear masks to keep from getting MERS-CoV. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
MANILA – The three Koreans who were tested at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) were found negative for the disease, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
“The results of the laboratory tests already came out and they are negative for MERS-CoV,” said DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy.
Lee Suy said the patients have submitted themselves to voluntary testing at a private hospital, which turned out to be Manila Doctors Hospital in Manila, which referred them to RITM for testing.
The patients were asymptomatic when they came to the Philippines but eventually manifested fever and cough so they sought treatment.
Lee Suy said since the patients have history of travel to South Korea which has been reporting MERS-CoV outbreaks and developed symptoms, they were automatically tested for the virus.
The DOH official, however, refused to reveal the profile of the patients and when they arrived in the country.