Following the Department of Health (DOH) confirmation of the first novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) case in the country, some residents in Bacolod City have reportedly begun “panic-buying” facemasks with local pharmacies and medical shops operating in front of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, shopkeepers, and pharmacists running out of both flu masks and N95 masks.
The same has also unfolded at other hospitals in the city.
In response, Bacolod City Councilor Cindy Rojas, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Health, appealed for the public to buy “the needed number of facemasks” as many others are also seeking the same item.
She also warned those who may take advantage of the situation and sell masks at a high price, pointing out, the city government will deploy personnel to monitor prices.
Meanwhile, City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) cluster head, Executive Assistant Joemarie Vargas, revealed they have started their own preparations against 2019-nCoV and said one of the city’s ambulances has been designated for transporting patients who may have contracted the virus.
In addition, two health workers from the city government have also undergone DOH training on how to deal with the said medical emergency.
In the meantime, both Rojas and Vargas appealed to the public for calm and assured city residents they are doing everything to prevent the virus from entering not just the city but Negros Occidental.
Earlier on Thursday, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed that a Chinese patient from Wuhan, China, presently confined at a hospital in Manila, tested positive for the 2019-nCoV.
He said the patient was admitted to a hospital after exhibiting a cough.
Results from the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia then confirmed the nCoV infection.
As of yesterday, DOH said 31 patients have been placed under observation for the virus./DGB, WDJ