Epidemiological characteristics of an outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Philippines

Mark Marcos Alipio; Joseph Dave Mendoza Pregoner

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-2019) is a source of great concern in the Philippines. It was first confirmed to have spread in the country on January 30, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. Involved first and second cases were married couples who had travel history in China, one of which was the first confirmed fatality of the disease in the country. The first case of local transmission was reported in an area in Northern Philippines from an elderly Filipino who was frequently observed in a Muslim prayer hall. He was the first confirmed death due to the local transmission of the disease in the country. 1 Until April 3, 2020, Covid-2019 has affected 3,018 individuals and caused 144 deaths in the Philippines, and quickly spread to over 17 regions nationwide. A total of 5,530 persons had been tested, while persons under investigation and under monitoring rose up to 1,323 and 6,321, respectively. Persons under investigation (PUIs) is a category for persons who have fever and/or cough with either a travel history in the past 14 days to areas with issued travel restrictions because of Covid-2019 and/or a history of disease exposure while persons under monitoring (PUMs) refers to individuals who have a travel history in the past 14 days to areas with issued travel restrictions because of Covid-2019 and/or a history of disease exposure. During a three-month duration of pandemic, the highest number of daily cases (538) was recorded on March 31, 2020. 1 Several health measures have been instigated to combat the disease outbreak. Few laboratories have opened to test for suspected cases. Among which are Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) which is located in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila and sub-national laboratories in Davao, Cebu and Northern Luzon, among others. Travel bans have been imposed to hotspot areas of the disease such as mainland China and South Korea. On March 9, Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte declared a public health emergency in the country after signing the Proclamation No. 922. On March 12, the Code Red Sub-Level 1 alert was raised to Code Red Sub-Level 2 alert to prevent further local transmission of the disease. As part of the concerted disease-mitigating efforts, the entire Luzon and some areas in the country have been placed in an enhanced community quarantine on March 16, after releasing a memorandum to suspend classes on March 12. In an attempt to authorize the President of the country 'to exercise powers necessary to carry out urgent measures to meet the current national emergency related to Covid-19', the President signed the 'Bayanihan to Heal as One Act' on March 25. Moreover, the Department of Health (DOH) of the country is accelerating its Covid-19 testing capacity, anticipating 120,500 kits from neighboring countries. 2 Infection control measures and supportive treatment were the current recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 3, 4 Up to the present moment, there are no known vaccines for Covid-2019. This prompted several scientists in the world to evaluate the effectiveness of previously used treatments for SARS such as lopinavir.