MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered health authorities Saturday to organize quick reaction teams to address the rising number of influenza A (H1N1) cases in the country.
Schools have been suspending classes in many parts of the country as more students are manifesting flu-like symptoms.
The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 861 confirmed cases as of June 26, 2009. Of the total confirmed cases, 634 or 74 percent of the affected patients as of May 21 have fully recovered.
Arroyo issued four marching orders to DOH during her side trip in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, who was with Arroyo in the Hong Kong trip, said the four orders were:
* Organize quick reaction teams with mobile clinics that can be easily deployed in areas affected by the virus;
* Prepare well-equipped isolation wards in all state-run hospitals and health facilities for the treatment of A (H1N1) influenza cases;
* Raise the alert level for A (H1N1) influenza to the World Health Organization (WHO) level for increased alertness and preparedness; and
* Tap the pool of still to be employed nurses in helping organize information and education teams to elevate public awareness on proper hygiene and mitigation efforts against the disease.
The health department declared last week a low-level community outbreak in Metro Manila and later revised its guidelines with education officials regarding the suspension of classes in schools with A (H1N1) cases.
More cases
In Davao City, a Dabawenyo, who attended a seminar in Metro Manila, tested positive for influenza A (H1N1), bringing the total number of swine flu cases in Mindanao to four as of Saturday.
Davao Medical Center (DMC) chief Dr. Leopoldo Vega said the latest case is a 34-year-old male, a resident of Cabantian, Buhangin, Davao City.
He said the victim attended a seminar in Metro Manila where the speaker was a Malaysian who later tested positive of the swine flu virus upon returning to Malaysia.
Vega said the 34-year-old is now on home quarantine.
The boy from Butuan City will be released anytime soon after his condition gets better. The boy's playmate, a nine-year-old girl will also be released.
Also testing positive of the virus were a 37-year-old from Kidapawan City and a 20-year-old from Baguio District in Davao City. Both are on home quarantine.
The number of suspected cases that were observed but cleared by health authorities in the region has reached to almost 50 since the outbreak of the swine flu virus two months ago. Only four, however, were confirmed cases.
In Magalang town in Pampanga province, the Pampanga Agricultural College suspended its classes on all levels since Friday after 40 people manifested flu-like illnesses.
School officials immediately suspended classes, while the DOH conducted swab testing on 36 of the 40 possible victims.
"So far we have swab tested some 36 of them and the samples have been forwarded to Manila and we are hoping that these are not positive cases. If in case there would be any that would turn positive, the people would surely be the first to know," Magpantay told Sun.Star.
Don Bosco Academy in Mabalacat town has also suspended classes since last June 22 and is set to resume on July 6 after some 40 people showed flu-like illnesses.
Mabalacat Mayor "Boking" Morales said some 30 high school students did not report to their class last Monday after they manifested flu-like symptoms.
"Three students who did report to class were also found to have fever so swab samples were taken," he said.
Magpantay said 10 students from the said school have already undergone swab testing but the DOH is still awaiting the results of the tests.
In Manila, Ateneo de Manila University reported in its website on Friday that three students of the Ateneo Grade School were confirmed infected with the swine flu virus and are now on home quarantine.
Hog raisers hurting
President Arroyo also ordered Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to help the "tens of thousands" of silent but hurting hog raisers whose plight has been largely ignored.
She cited reports that backyard and small-scale hog raisers are suffering as farm gate prices dropped because of "baseless fears about unsafe pork."
Pork prices earlier dropped due to misconceptions that the influenza virus earlier identified as "swine flu" can be contracted by eating pork.
Arroyo said the Department of Agriculture (DA) should assure consumers there is no swine flu in local hog farms.
"Local pork is safe to eat, there is no single case of swine flu report from the Bureau of Animal Industry and the National Meat Inspection Service," she said.
"On top of properly informing the public, the DA should carry out all preparations necessary to prevent swine flu from infecting local hog farms," she added.
Updates from the rest of Asia showed that more than 1,200 people in Thailand have contracted the dreaded virus as of Saturday, including seven Navy cadets.
In Australia, 3,519 people had been diagnosed with the virus. A 26-year-old woman who also had a serious pre-existing medical condition died late Friday after spending several days in Royal Perth Hospital's intensive care unit, Western Australia chief health officer Tarun Weeramanthri said.
Myanmar reported its first case of the disease on Saturday in a 13-year-old girl who recently returned from Singapore.
New Zealand raised its tally of confirmed swine flu cases to 507.
In Hong Kong, the government confirmed 33 new cases, taking the city's total to 629. There have been no reports of deaths related to the virus in the territory.
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