MANILA – Private hospitals are already preparing isolation areas amid the threat of the monkeypox virus in the Philippines, a group of private hospitals said Wednesday.

Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, head of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, said isolating suspected monkeypox cases is key to curbing the spread of the disease in the country.

“What we are doing right now, is just the same more or less what we are doing during the COVID pandemic. We are preparing for our isolation areas because what is important here is awareness, our detection, and of course isolation of these suspect cases,” he told ANC’s “Rundown.”

Asked if the government should now buy more test kits for monkeypox, De Grano said, “Well of course, I think that’s a good move. The problem is that the availability of those test kits, how much it is, and of course the vaccine, if it’s already available.”

The Philippines on July 29 announced its first case of monkeypox, nearly a week after the World Health Organization declared the infectious disease a global health emergency.

• Philippines detects first monkeypox case

The case was detected in a 31-year-old Filipino who arrived from abroad last July 19.

The Department of Health earlier said it was looking into procuring smallpox vaccines that also work against monkeypox. The agency will have to secure compassionate special permit for the jabs as the law only allows granting of emergency use authorization to COVID-19 vaccines.

• What is monkeypox? DOH says ready to detect, contain disease
• PH eyes compassionate special permit for smallpox jabs vs monkeypox

--ANC, 3 August 2022