Doctors working in Thailand have possibly discovered the cure for the 2019-novel coronavirus after their nCoV patient’s condition improved in just 48 hours.

The good news was announced by Dr. Kriangsak Attipornwanich during the press briefing of Thailand’s Public Health Ministry, saying that the said patient became negative in nCoV after trying a mixture of drugs for HIV and Influenza.

According to them, they checked the respiratory system of the patient and found no trace of the virus.

“I had treated a patient with a severe condition, and the result has been very satisfactory. The patient’s condition has improved very quickly within 48 hours. And the test result has also changed from being positive into negative within 48 hours as well,” Atipornwanich said.

Some reports also mentioned that hospitals in Beijing, China are using the same method to their patients, however, it’s not yet known if they’re successful in treating them.

There are already 19 confirmed cases of nCoV in Thailand and there are also 311 patients being observed by the doctors.

Caviteños expressed their concern over the plan of the government to build a quarantine center for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Cavite.

Officials of the Department of Health (DOH) announced their plan to build quarantine areas in Caballo Island in Cavite for Filipino workers who were forced to go home because of the situation in China, especially in Wuhan.

Caballo island is about 9km from Ternate Town in Cavite and it’s already been used as a quarantine area in 2014 for the soldiers and police officers who went to Liberia.

However, some Caviteños opposed the plan of DOH, saying that the OFWs who were considered as heroes in the Philippines might be carrying the novel coronavirus.

They pointed out that some places in Cavite are still not yet recovering from the Taal volcano erption, some evacuees are also still staying in the said province.

“Don’t do this in Cavite, this is a historical place, not a treatment island, ,though madaming hospital it is because we have so many working people here which is needed to be protected as well as their families also, please Gov. protect us,” Geing Sanico said.

“Kakatapos nga lang ng taal eruption at marami p evacuees d2 from taal tpos d2 nyo p naisipan gawn yan?prang dnagdagan nyo lng isipn nmin mga tga cavite at batangas. asan hustsya?” Mylene Capagalan commented.

“Bakit sa cavite. sa probinsya ng mga sumasamba ng chinese dapat,” Noel Ortega remarked.

Some netizens tried to defend the decision of the government, pointing out that Caballo island is too far from the mainland of Cavite.

“Ang OA ng iba nd naman malapit sa bahay nyo iququarantine eh sa isla po at kapwa pinoy!.imbes n mgdasal nlng po ntin puro kau kuda!” netizen Lhen Sandajan told her fellow Caviteños.

“It is safe. Ginawa na din yan quarantine nung nauso ang SARS dati. Di naman kami nahawa mga taga Ternate,” Queen Reyes said.

Aside from Caballo island, the government is also planning to use the 10,000-bed rehabilitation center at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

A medical doctor made a lengthy post on Facebook to express her criticisms against the netizens who are trying to act like they know what’s really happening in the country amid the 2019 novel coronavirus scare.

Dra. Lotis Casiple-De Guzman, Medical Officer III of Bureau of Quarantine couldn’t hide her disappointment anymore after reading many comments from some netizens criticizing the health officials and accused them of not working well to prevent the nCov from entering the country.

She answered several complaints from the netizens by writing a lengthy explanation to them so they could understand that the Department of Health (DOH) is doing their best to prevent the virus from spreading in the country.

The doctor also denied that the government is doing a cover-up to calm the public.

You can read her post below:

“I have been trying to hold my peace for quite sometime regarding the issue on nCov. Ayoko sanang pumatol sa mga maraming nagfe-feeling all-knowing, overnight experts, giving their left and right baseless opinions. Mga sobrang triggered, that others even blatantly wish death for our dear health secretary and his family. Meron ding mga walang bukang bibig kundi “wala kayong ginagawa!”. Patola ako ngayon. Isa-isahin natin.”

“Una: “Hindi tayo handa. Walang ginagawa ang DOH. Heightened alert daw sa airport eh wala namang talagang ginagawa at kulang sa gamit. Thermal scanner lang. Paano pag walang lagnat, eh di nakapasok na ang mga intsik at magkakalat na virus! Walang guidelines!”

“Kung marunong ka lang makinig ng totoo mula ng pumutok ang balita sana naintindihan mo na ang DOH ay umaksyon agad. Inalerto ang lahat ng points of entry. Quarantine people manning our ports and airports did not think twice or even consider their safety and carry on w/ the orders given to ensure that all passengers coming in are symptom free. Wala po kayo dun. Wala kayo sa frontline. Hindi nyo nakikita na 24 oras ang pagbabantay na ginagawa. Iniisa-isa ang pasahero. Pag may sintomas, ini-examine. May guidelines po (opo meron!) na sinusunod kung sino ang dapat ipadala sa hospital at hindi. Pinaliwanag na rin yan. May lagnat, ubo, sipon, at galing sa mga lugar sa china na may outbreak ay classified as person under investigation (PUI) at siguradong ilalagay under quarantine. Napanood mo sa TV yan hindi ka lang nakinig! Kung walang sintomas at hindi pasok sa criteria wala tayong karapatang pigilan ang sinoman makapasok sa bansa. Intsik man sya. Wala pa po tayong travel ban for china same with other countries . (Yes, hindi lang tayo!)
Hindi tayo handa? Eh sino ba ang ready sa pagdating nito? Kaya nga even other countries like US are still trying to cope up with it.”

“Paano kung nakapasa sa examination? Papapasukin ng bansa ng ganun-ganun lang?” Friend, hindi mo alam ang effort with a capital E bago sila pakawalan. Pipilitin na ipaliwanag ng mabuti… kahit na madalas lost in translation (dito ako nagpapasalamat sa english to chinese Google translate!) na kailangan pumunta sa pinakamalapit na hospital pag nagka-sintomas. Dito pumapasok ang di matatawarang serbisyo ng mga kapatid natin sa mga hospital institutions.”

“Pangalawa: “Sige pagtakpan nyo pa! Marami ng positive sa nCov ayaw nyo lang sabihin!”

“Hala! Tigil-tigilan nyo na kasi ang pag-iisip ng ka-etchosan na conspiracy theory. Masyado na atang na-apektuhan ang karamihan ng mga telenovela na pinapanood kaya akala lagi may cover-up. Again, from the beginning the DOH posted news bulletins regarding nCov and regularly holds press briefing about PUI cases and their status. The department has been transparent….Ayaw mo lang talaga maniwala! Mas pinaniniwalaan mo pa ang mga fake news. Zero (0) confirmed case in the Philippines. Ayaw mong maniwala! Gusto mo meron?! Mag-isip ka naman. Bakit kailangan pagtakpan kung meron? Anong special sa atin para pagtakpan even ng WHO? Tuwing magsasalita si Sec. Duque, kasama nya si Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, Officer-in-Charge and Acting WHO Representative just to assure everyone that we are coordinating with them and following the organization’s protocol.
O ayan meron na positive case! Masaya ka na?”

“Hala eto pa, after hearing the announcement: “Sinasabi ko na nga ba may pinagtatakpan kaya ngayon lang sinabi na may positive na!” Pssst… hindi mo ba narinig kakarating lang ng result from Australia. Mainit init pa.”

“Pangatlo: “Ano ba yan, wala tayong pang test ng nCov! Kailangan pang isend abroad?! Eh blood sample lang naman ang itetest!”

“Galing. Tsk tsk… Friend, basa din pag may time. Ang ibig sabihin ng nCov ay NOVEL Corona Virus. Novel virus sabi ni Wikipedia (dahil mahilig naman kayong mag refer kay Google) “Is a virus NOT SEEN BEFORE. It can be a virus that is isolated from its reservoir or isolated as the result of spread to an animal or human host where the virus had not been identified before.” Yan ang dahilan kaya po wala pang available na specific test dito sa atin. Ganyan din po ng nagsimula ang SARS, MersCov na ngayon ay meron na tayo. Yan ang dahilan kaya need natin isend sa reference laboratory abroad. Hindi rin po tayo ang tanging bansa na ganito ang sitwasyon. Hinihintay lang po nating dumating yung mga kailangang reagents at primers for nCov para hindi na natin ipagawa ang test sa iba.
“The RITM has the skills and capacity to do testing but we must acquire the reagents and the primer of this novel coronavirus,” according to Sec. Duque. Totoo po yan kasi Biological Safety Laboratory Level 3 (BSL3) Facility po ito. Hindi mo maintindihan? I-google mo na lang para naman makapagbasa ka ng tama. Narinig mo ba yan kahapon sa Congress inquiry? Hindi. Kasi mas na-appreciate mo ang sinabi ni Senadora na gusto nya i-ban ang mga chinese because she values the health of the Filipino people.
Hay. At nga pala ang test po para sa nCov ay hindi simpleng blood test lang. kung nakinig ka sa sinabi sa congress kahapon nalaman mo sana na SIPON ang kinokolekta (nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab).”

“Pang-apat: Bakit handwashing?
Eh nasa hangin ang mikrobyo? Hay. Ayan ka na naman. Ang mode of transmission po ay respiratory droplets. Di hamak na malaki at mabigat kumpara sa mikrobyo na airborne kaya malamang na maiwan sa mga bagay at puedeng mahawakan mo ito pag may bumahing o umubo. At dahil mabigat sya hindi kayang tangayin ng hangin, kataas-taasan ay isang metro ang puedeng landingan.”

“How can we protect ourselves? It all boils down to basic hand washing, cleanliness, keeping ourselves healthy and proper protection.
Opinyon ko lang ang mga ito. Sana kesa maging negatibo tayo dapat maging mapanuri, appreciative at matalino.”

“Kudos to all healthcare workers. We are on the frontline of this battle and we are doing our job the best we can.”

Netizens expressed their concern on the possible nCov outbreak in the country and they even urged the government from banning the Chinese from entering the country, believing that they’re possibly carrying the virus.

nCov originated in Wuhan, China, as of writing, there are already 14,000 cases reported in the said country.

Despite experiencing racism being treated as a carrier of novel coronavirus in the Philippines, several Chinese men decided to help the Filipinos by distributing free face masks for them.

On a Facebook post, netizen Cindy Arcangeles shared photos of Chinese men distributing the said items to the Filipinos and even put a sign to get the attention of the people.

According to Arcangeles, the actions of the Chinese men showed that despite facing criticisms in the Philippines, they’re still willing to help the Filipinos.

“Tumutulong parin sila in their own ways. Let’s all have unity, wag po tayong maging mapride,” Arcangeles said.

“Not all chinese are the same. Pls spread the good news!!” she added.

According to her, the Chinese men distributed the face masks in front of Lido De Paris Hotel Ongpin St, Santa Cruz, Manila City.

The post gained thousands of positive reactions and shares from the netizens, but some Filipinos are still not impressed by the actions of the Chinese.

Netizen Mark Endaya expressed distrust to the Chinese people despite seeing Arcangeles’ post.

“Karma sa kanila yan kaya bumabawi,” Endaya said.

Another netizen, Den Canapia even said that the said Chinese men are possibly trying to infect the Filipinos by distributing face masks.

“This act can get easily apreciated but for some reason iba naiisip ko. Hindi kaya gamit na mga yan at gusto nilang mahawa lahat ng mga pilipino? Hindi sa nilalahat ko ang mga chinese pero known na sila sa pagiging maloko. Nagmamanufacture ng plastic na bigas at mga laruan na gawa sa lead na masama sa kalusugan ng tao. Hindi malayong chemical warfare nila yan para tuluyan na nilang makuha buong pilipinas. Sana mali ako pero di ko maiwasang pag isipan sila ng masama dahil known na sa pagkatao nila ang pagiging maloko at walang pakialam makasira ng kalusugan ng iba para lng kumita,” netizen Den Canapia commented.

Yesterday, netizen Precious Ann Patiño also reported that two Chinese men also gave a free face mask in Makati City.

“Free mask from these two Chinese Men
Di ko masyado nabasa yung naka flash dun sa cp ng naka black na chinese pero parang mag nakalagay ata dun na “hug” then yung naka white sya may hawak ng mask sya taga abot,” Patiño said.

“Sa mga madadaan dyan ng PBCOm Makati. Tanggapin nyo na lang po yung offer nila na mask sa ganyang paraan na lang sila makakabawi sa mga sama ng loob sa kanila at para makatulong na din sila. Keep praying guys. Marami ng nangyayare ngayon para sabayan pa natin ng galit tulungan na lang,” she added.

People from mainland China received a tremendous amount of criticisms from the Filipino social media users which already came to the point that they’re already traumatized because of the treatment they received.