By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA — Malacañang has assured that the Philippines remains Ebola-free.
The Department of Health (DOH) has not reported a single case of the deadly virus in the country so far, it said.
DOH and other concerned government agencies actively monitor all points of entry, with an intensive focus on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who come from countries directly affected by the Ebola virus, said Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
“The DOH, headed by Secretary (Enrique) Ona, has ensured that the government has the capacity to respond to the Ebola virus or Ebola epidemic because it has already been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a threat to global health,” Coloma said.
It is also coordinating with the Department of Labor and Employment and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to safeguard Filipino workers, he said.
WHO on Friday declared the Ebola epidemic, which has already killed nearly 1,000 people, an international health emergency.
Authorities feared that the virus, which is spread through close contact with bodily fluids of infected people, can spread worldwide.
WHO’s declaration represents a call to member-states and private donors to boost funding and efforts to battle the worst Ebola outbreak in history, as a surge in cases over the past two days has overwhelmed major aid organizations.
As of Wednesday last week, 1,779 cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — three countries worst hit by the disease — had been reported to WHO, with 961 deaths.
Some 140 to 150 health care workers have been infected, 80 of them fatally.
Those numbers do not capture the unknown numbers of patients who, having seen the chaotic state of local hospitals, have decided to treat their loved ones at home./PN
