The Department of Health (DOH) has taken in three more people for quarantine after exhibiting symptoms of the influenza A(H1N1) virus.

DOH Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said two new cases under observation are confined in a private hospital, and the other one was brought to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila.

The new cases brought the number of people quarantined by the DOH due to the H1N1 scare to 65.

DOH epidemiology chief Dr. Eric Tayag earlier said that the influenza test conducted on an 11-month-old Japanese baby has turned out negative.

Tayag said the baby's influenza test result came out Monday night. The baby has been taken home by the parents, he added.

The child arrived from Japan without any symptoms of fever, but became ill three days ago and taken to RITM for observation.

Tayag said the child was placed in a “special room" where a swab sample was taken from his throat.

In a statement made by DOH, those quarantined in the Philippines had history of travel from countries with confirmed cases of the flu virus: Australia, Canada, China (Mainland), Hong Kong, SAR, Ireland, Italy Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the US.

The DOH reiterated that all incoming passengers from countries with confirmed H1N1 cases should closely monitor their health for 10 days from arrival should they develop any flu-like symptoms.

The virus is getting near the Philippines as neighboring countries like Malaysia, China, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand already have confirmed human cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there are more than 6,000 confirmed human cases of H1N1 in Mexico, including 66 deaths. In the US, there are four deaths in the 4,714 confirmed human cases. Canada reported 496 H1N1 cases with one death. Costa Rica also reported one death in the nine confirmed laboratory human cases.

The WHO is still studying the possibility of raising the health alert level on the virus to 6.

Tayag said the WHO may raise the alert level to 6 if Japan, which has 125 confirmed cases of the virus, decides to declare a community outbreak of the H1N1 virus.