MANILA, Philippines — The more transmissible COVID-19 variants that originated in the United Kingdom and South Africa are already present in all Metro Manila cities, the Department of Health said Monday.
“We have detected in all of the cities either the UK variant or the South African variant. Also in other cities, there are both the UK variant and the South African variant,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.
“So we can say the variants are here and yes, it has contributed to the increase in number of cases,” she added.
But Vergeire maintained that the non-compliance with public health protocols is still the “root cause” of the fresh surge in infections.
The UK (B1.1.7) and the South African (B.1.351) are classified as variants of concern. They have the N501Y mutation, which is associated with increased transmissibility.
B.1.351 also carries the E484K mutation, which may help the virus evade some antibodies, possibly affecting vaccine efficacy.
Despite the development, it is still up to the World Health Organization to declare whether there is already a community transmission of COVID-19 variants in the country, the health official said.
“We need to confer with the WHO if indeed community transmission of these variants is present already,” Vergeire said.
The DOH has so far detected 223 cases of B.1.1.7, 152 cases of B.1.351, one case of P.1 (Brazil) and 104 cases of P.3 or the coronavirus variant first reported in the Philippines. The P.3 variant carries both the N501Y and E484K mutations but the DOH said it is still not considered a variant of concern.
The Philippines is battling a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, which health authorities attribute to vaccine optimism that led to decreased compliance in health measures and the circulation of more infectious COVID-19 variants.
The number of new COVID-19 cases has surpassed 7,000 for three straight days—the highest since the start of the pandemic—bringing the country’s caseload to over 663,000.
To stem the spread of the virus, the government banned mass gatherings and cross-border travel in Metro Manila, and neighboring provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.