News Roundup 08 February 2020
Feb 08, 2020 • 2 min Read
PH to use ‘state police power’ to enforce quarantine–Duque | INQUIRER.NET – Philippine authorities will “invoke state police power” if people who have flu-like symptoms will refuse to undergo a mandatory quarantine, the Department of Health said Saturday. The remark of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III came as nine patients under investigation (PUI) declined to be placed in a health facility for isolation.
DILG threatens LGU officials opposing New Clark City quarantine | PHILSTAR.COM – DILG threatens LGU officials opposing New Clark City quarantine. Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said that local government officials contesting the president’s order would face sanctions. “Meron ho silang kalalagyan niyan, ‘yung mga opisyales natin na haharang sa isang kautusan ng ating pangulo, so may kaakibat po ‘yan na administrative and baka may criminal side pa ho ‘yan pagka kanilang hinarang po ‘yan,” Densing said in a Saturday morning interview over radio station dzMM. (These officials blocking the president’s order will face consequences, so there are corresponding administrative and possibly even a criminal sanction if they continue doing so.)
DOH: nCoV PUIs, confirmed cases now number 267 | Manila Bulletin – The number of persons under investigation (PUIs) in the country for possible 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection, along with the confirmed cases, has risen to 267, according to the advisory issued by Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday. Based on DOH’s 2019-nCoV tracker as of Feb. 8, noon, there are 267 monitored cases of the new virus in various parts of the country since the department started its surveillance. Of this number, 230 are currently admitted to and isolated in hospitals, 13 refused admission, and 17 have been discharged but remain “under strict monitoring.”
Doctor who exposed virus dies | The Manila Times – BEIJING: The death of a whistleblowing doctor, whose early warnings about China’s new coronavirus outbreak were suppressed by the police, has unleashed a wave of anger at the government’s handling of the crisis — and bold demands for more freedom. Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was among eight physicians who sounded the alarm about the virus in late December, only to be reprimanded and censored by the authorities in central Hubei province.
