Following the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Department of Health (DOH) is investigating a case of a patient who tested positive for a new coronavirus strain: a five-year-old child who traveled from Wuhan, China to Cebu City, and was admitted for having a fever and throat irritation.

BREAKING: The 5-year-old tested positive for for a non-specific pancorona virus. | @cebudailynews https://t.co/DenGmsGTFN pic.twitter.com/WXYGO7jX0V

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) January 21, 2020

According to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III, the child tested negative for Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-COV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-COV). Samples from the child, however, tested positive for a non-specific pancorona virus strain, and have been sent to Australia for identification.

The DOH’s press release also added that they have also been monitoring three individuals who have exhibited flu-like symptoms after entering the country from China but have no known contact with a confirmed novel coronavirus. Samples from the patients have been sent for testing, and the patients are no longer showing any symptoms.

UPDATE: According to a test conducted by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, the patient tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

JUST IN: The five-year-old Chinese boy who recently arrived from Wuhan, China to Cebu City has tested negative for novel coronavirus based on a test conducted by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, DOH confirms. | @CGonzalesINQ pic.twitter.com/FOm5Eyj9ox

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) January 24, 2020

Despite this, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III noted that they will be monitoring developments with the 2019-nCoV and ensuring mechanisms to contain the threat.

Header image by Olga Kononenko of Unsplash

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