Philippines detects 19 more cases of new COVID-19 variant, total now at 44
MANILA, Philippines — Health authorities in the Philippines announced late Friday night that they have detected 19 more cases of the new coronavirus variant, called B.1.1.7, bringing the total number of patients with the total number of cases of the more infectious variant to 44.
The Department of Health said it is still verifying whether six of the 19 are local cases or returning overseas Filipinos. It said that it has started case investigation and contact tracing to verify reported information and trace possible sources of infection.
Eight of the 19 new cases are returning overseas Filipinos, the DOH said. Four of them are men and the four others are women, all of whom are aged between 28 and 53 years old. Six are still being managed in isolation facilities, while two have already recovered.
Three more of the new B.1.1.7 cases hail from the Davao region and all of them have no known links to each other, the DOH said. The 10-year-old boy, 54-year-old woman and 33-year-old man who are infected with the new variant still have mild symptoms of COVID-19.
Two of the new cases come from Calabarzon, according to the DOH. One of them, a 20-year-old woman who was tested last Dec. 22, 2020, has no known history of exposure to someone with COVID-19. The other patient is a 76-year-old woman who was exposed to a COVID-19 patient last January 21; she is currently experiencing mild symptoms.
The DOH said that the 19 new cases were part of the sixth batch of 718 samples sequenced on February 8 by the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center.
It added that this batch of samples were sourced from all regions, except the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and were selected to ensure representation of each region as well as areas where spikes in cases have been reported.
No new deaths among patients with the B.1.1.7 variant was reported, keeping the death toll among patients infected with the variant at one.
While the DOH reported the country’s first B.1.1.7 case on January 13, it admitted that the new variant had been in the country nearly a month before their announcement, as a sample collected on December 10 tested positive for the mutated virus.
Despite the lingering threat of the new variants, the government has relaxed travel restrictions on foreigners and has refused to impose a new travel ban.
The DOH said that apart from the B.1.1.7 variant, no other variant of concern has been detected in the Philippines.
Preliminary estimates find the B.1.1.7 variant between 30% and 70% more contagious than other forms of the virus. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there is “some evidence” that it could be deadlier, but local experts affiliated with the DOH said it is still premature to conclude this.
Experts warned that an increase in the transmission of the new variant will lead to more people getting infected and sick, which can overwhelm the country's health system anew. — Xave Gregorio
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