Manila: As the Philippines confronts what could be its first MERS-CoV death, authorities are faced with the dilemma of protecting the people from the lethal viral disease and shielding its business sector from the fallout.

A 63-year-old male visitor from Saudi Arabia died on September 29 days after arriving in the country, yet the country seems to be oblivious to its potential to cause localised health emergencies, as well as the fact that the disease has killed 567 people since it surfaced in 2012.

The Department of Health (DOH), while providing updates on cases, is generally tight-lipped on the issue and is very selective on the amount of information it is providing.

DoH Secretary, Dr Janette Garin, had only gone as far as to say that the patient who died had been staying at a hotel, but she would not give the exact name of the establishment or where it was located. She also would not divulge the virus carrier’s gender or the places where the patient had gone to after it arrived from Saudi Arabia.

“One of the reasons why DoH is providing little information about the circumstances of the person who died from the suspected case is its repercussion to business,” a DoH insider told Gulf News.

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the Philippines and provides jobs to millions of Filipinos. A virus scare could have a strong impact on the country’s economy as it would drive away tourist while at the same time causing apprehension to locals.

No autopsy

DoH Spokesperson Dr Lyndon Lee Suy said the department had been observing protocols on handling cases of the disease since 2013, but he could not say how the patient was able to enter the country undetected and stay for several days before eventually dying. He also said there was no autopsy conducted on the patient to determine the real cause of his death.

“The foreigner sought medical consultation on September 28 and died the day after,” he said while pointing out that the reason why an autopsy was not conducted on the patient was due to religious grounds. The deceased was Muslim.

Suy said they also found out from the patient before he died and that he had a history of heart ailment.

DOH insiders said it is most likely the patient had died from MERSCoV.

But Suy said on the part of the DoH, the case is officially listed as “suspected MERSCoV.”

In the meantime, as a precautionary measure, the DoH quarantined 101 individuals who had close contact with deceased Saudi Arabian national.

“Out of that number, 15 were hospitalised and monitored after displaying symptoms of MERSCoV,” said Garin.

But while authorities in the Philippines are seemingly helpless in forcing health authorities be more transparent, they can only do as much as to take preventive measures. To avoid similar occasions where there is little time allotted for health officials to react on cases, the DoH advised patients experiencing signs and symptoms of MERS-CoV who came from Arab countries to seek medical consultations early.