Pending RITM confirmation on virus Bohol 

sets up protocols Against n-corona virus 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Jan 24 (PIA)—So much ado about the fear of the unknown. 

Boholanos who had their ears on the local news sources went agog, last week as reports of two Chinese nationals getting treated to a disease that many presumed to be the highly contagious and fatal novel-corona virus (n-CoV). 

Corona virus, or one that is commonly causing infections like colds and cough attacks the respiratory track and its systems is now mutating into a new strain. 

The n-CoV is more intense in its attacks, and when one’s body defenses are weakened, there is a high probability of getting the virus and aggravating its effects to respiratory problems including difficulty in breathing and pneumonia leading to death, explains Assistant Provincial health Officer Dr Cesar Tomas Lopez. 

But, speaking at the Kapihan sa PIA, Thursday, Dr. Lopez, who also sits in the novel-Corona Virus Technical Working Group (n-CoV TWG) assured that there has not been any confirmed case of the highly contagious virus caused disease in Bohol. 

He shared that Bohol has sent samples of swabs from the Chinese patients for confirmation to the Regional Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM), and the results have not been back. 

Until then, Bohol has no confirmed cases of n-CoV, he announced over the radio air lanes. 

In the meantime, the mere news about the disease and its potential harm to a community, the provincial health authorities are not resting, the former legislator and deputy health officer said. 

For a province that has its doors wide open for foreign and local tourists, majority of them from Asian countries with reported cases of the disease, Bohol officials are now stepping up the pressure to put biosecurity measures in place, to keep Bohol n-cov-free. 

Local plans ensure that suspected cases are immediately contained. 

That means airport arrivals are scrutinized, any individual coming in with temperatures above normal gets picked by a thermal scanner and is immediately ushered off to an isolation room. 

The Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council has dedicated an ambulance for ferrying the suspected patients to Gov Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital or the Don Emilio del Valle Memorial Hospital in Ubay, where there are n-cov isolation rooms. 

For those passing through the ports, the TWG has coordinated with Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants, and any person checking in hotels and resorts who are found to have fever, colds or coughs are reported to the Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit: the team that is in charge of the quick reaction to suspected n-cov cases. 

Not wanting to sound alarmist, the health officer bared more on the prevention and the management of the disease, should a case be confirmed in Bohol. 

CoV, is a fiercer version of the common colds and cough virus, and as such, there is no known vaccines yet, he said. 

Managed just like common colds and cough, n-CoV patients however need to be treated so the viral infection could not aggravate into more serious bacterial infection that could lead to more serious concerns, Dr. Lopez said. 

Transmitted through air, or by contact, the virus, which can be spread by a patient upon sneezing or coughing, gets to the respiratory tract, messes with the cells there and compromises one’s immune defenses. 

To keep one self from getting the virus, physicians recommend wearing masks, for Dr. Lopez, practicing good hygiene is better. 

Make it a habit to wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, cover your mouth with a handkerchief when sneezing or coughing and keep away from large crowds where the probability of transmission of the virus is high. 

First noted in Wuhan province in China in 2017, n-CoV has been tagged in the deaths by complication of an alarming number of people in several countries including the United States. 

As the Center for Disease Control zeroed in on Wuhan as the source of the virus, health professionals are also looking at people with travel history to Wuhan who has fever and manifests symptoms of respiratory illnesses. 

As to the suspected cases of the disease in Bohol, Dr Lopez bared that one patient has been released from the hospital and is now back in China. 

The other patient is cooperating and is not showing any signs that the fever is escalating into other diseases, and is already up and about. 

As Bohol puts up a TWG and is assisting the PESU in preparing information and communication about the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) authorities have still yet to declare novel corona virus as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). 

As of Thursday last week, a suggestion to make Bohol close its doors to international flights especially the Chinese have been shared and discussed on social media platforms. 

Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one, shared WHO. 

According to available data, 584 cases have now been reported to WHO, including 17 deaths. 

575 of those cases and all of the deaths have been reported in China, with other cases reported in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the United States of America and Vietnam. 

WHO said “We know that this virus can cause severe disease, and that it can kill, although for most people it causes milder symptoms. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)