UK coronavirus cases

BRITAIN yesterday said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had doubled to eight as the government declared the virus a serious and imminent threat, giving it additional powers to isolate those suspected of being infected.

Patient discharged

THE first novel coronavirus patient in the Philippines has been discharged from the hospital after testing negative for the virus, the country’s Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said yesterday.

“The first case has already tested negative twice, and has, in fact, been discharged Saturday,” Domingo told a news conference, noting that negative results from two consecutive tests are needed before a patient is discharged.

The patient, a 38-year-old Chinese woman from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, arrived in the Philippines via Hong Kong on Jan. 21.

The patient was admitted to a government hospital Jan. 25 after experiencing a mild cough.