Iloilo City Councilor Allan Zaldivar, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Health, called for the city to take precautionary measures against pneumonia, which has recently struck Wuhan, China.
“As a neighboring country of China, we must be vigilant, observant, and swiftly take necessary precautions since we could not put our own health and that of our fellow Ilonggos at risk,” he explained.
The city official noted, with the city expecting to see an influx of local and foreign tourists with the upcoming Dinagyang Festival, the city must ensure festivities are not affected by the illness.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), initial information about the pneumonia cases of in Wuhan pointed to a coronavirus (CoV), which they describe as a large family of viruses with some causing less-severe disease, such as the common cold, and others more severe disease, such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
However, WHO noted, “Chinese authorities reported that laboratory tests ruled out SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus, and other common respiratory pathogens.”
Nearly 60 people have been infected since December./WDJ