00:00The fourth case of MPOX in Quezon City has entered the workplace and some are still looking for him in the nearby spas.
00:09Barbershops and salons will also monitor closely where close and skin-to-skin contact is possible.
00:15Maris Umali is in touch.
00:20The 32-year-old man mentioned in MPOX Case No. 4 in Quezon City has entered the workplace.
00:27Even though he has shown symptoms of the disease, such as lesion,
00:31that is what came out in the investigation of MPOX Surveillance of the Quezon City Health Department.
00:35Based on the contact tracing, 14 close contacts were mentioned.
00:39Of those 14, 1 is the partner, 13 are the workmates.
00:44It's critical because even just a day that the patient goes to work,
00:49even for that short period of time, we need to contact trace all the possible exposed patients.
00:56As of MPOX Case No. 4 in Quezon City, there are 13 active cases in the country
01:01and he is currently isolated in his home and recuperating.
01:05Because of the heightened surveillance of MPOX by the local government of Quezon City,
01:09it's easy for them to target those who have the disease,
01:12even their close contacts, so that the spread of the disease can be prevented.
01:16The problem is, it's hard to get the cooperation of all the close contacts.
01:21Of the 14 identified, only 7 are responding,
01:25so we're hoping that as of today, they will respond for the contact tracing
01:31because we need to do this because we need to know their overall health status for the next 21 days.
01:36It's really hard for people who don't admit that they have symptoms.
01:40Our council thought about this last week, why don't we impose penalties?
01:47I can't say that it won't increase because it's possible that it will increase.
01:50But what's important is that Quezon City is prepared for such emergencies.
01:55Because it's being revealed that some of the positive cases in MPOX in the country have a history of going to the spa,
02:01they continue to go there and it's been revealed that 282 out of 385 establishments in Quezon City have no permit,
02:09which has been endorsed by the Quezon City Health Department.
02:12They can recommend for a cease and desist order or a temporary closure based on their recommendation.
02:19Next, they will monitor barber shops, beauty parlors, and salons where close and skin-to-skin contacts cannot be avoided.
02:27For GMA Integrated News, Mariz Umali reporting for 24 Hours.
02:49For more information visit www.gma.gov
