MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Thursday said five passengers with a travel history to India have tested positive for COVID-19.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a previous interview on Wednesday said six passengers were infected with the novel coronavirus.
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In a release on Thursday, DOH citing data from the Bureau of Quarantine, said 149 passengers with travel history to India arrived in the country from April 1 to 30, before the two-week travel ban was enforced.
Of these, 129 are returning Filipinos while 20 are foreign nationals. “All of these passengers were quarantined upon arrival and tested on the 6th or 7th day,” the DOH added.
Five of them tested positive on RT-PCR test while 137 tested negative. Of those who were infected with the novel coronavirus, one is still in isolation while disposition of the four is currently being verified, said DOH.
“Samples from these positive cases are currently being determined if they are adequate for sequencing. The test results of the [seven] remaining travelers are currently being verified,” it added.
The Philippine government banned travelers from India from entering the country until May 14. Beginning May 7, passengers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka or those who have been to these countries in the last 14 days will also be barred from entering the country.
The travel restrictions are imposed over the threat posed by the B.1.617 variant, which was first detected in India.
Coronavirus variants
As of May 3, the Philippines so far reported 1,075 cases with the B.1351 variant, (first detected in South Africa), 948 cases of B.1.1.7 variant (first detected in United Kingdom), 157 cases with P.3 variant (first detected in the Philippines) and two cases of the P.1 (first detected in Brazil).
READ: 678 new cases of coronavirus variants detected in Philippines
Variants first detected in UK, South Africa and Brazil are deemed variants of concern, while the P.3 and B.1.617 are variants under investigation.
The DOH explained that the variant of concerns and variants under investigation are detected in the country due to increased genomic biosurveillance activities. It added that the department is conducting purposive sampling to ensure
“Hence, there is disproportionately higher number of samples being sequenced from areas with reported clustering, increased severe and critical cases, and a bigger presence of returning overseas Filipinos,” it also said.
On Wednesday, the Philippines’ total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections reached 1,073,555 with 62,713 active cases. — Kristine Joy Patag