The good news is that the country, through the Philippine Genome Center, has the capacity to identify the variants of the COVID-19 virus that are now emerging. As several local government executives have noted, however, the bad news is that it takes about two weeks for the PGC to release the results.
Like the initial long wait for the results of COVID swab tests, the two-week wait for sequencing results for potential variant infections is causing problems in the pandemic response. Health authorities have emphasized that the samples sent for sequencing are taken from COVID-positive patients, who have been isolated to prevent transmission.
Many of the confirmed cases so far are Filipinos returning from overseas, who are required to undergo quarantine upon arrival and whose contacts while traveling can be traced. Still, contact tracing is not always as swift as called for under such circumstances. And the continuing rise in infections with both the original COVID-19 and its mutations should warrant a review of recent measures to ease restrictions particularly on travel.
Last Friday, the Department of Health reported the highest single-day rise in COVID cases. The DOH also reported 31 more cases of the more infectious COVID variant first detected in the United Kingdom as well as 52 more cases of the South African mutation. The PGC also reported 42 additional “mutations of potential clinical significance.” The samples came from Metro Manila, where Pasay City in particular is grappling with the spreading variants, as well as from Central Visayas and returning overseas Filipinos.
As of Friday, the country had 55 active cases of the South African variant, with three deaths. As for the UK variant, the country now has a total of 118 infections, with 39 cases still active. Also on Friday, the DOH recorded its biggest spike in total COVID cases nationwide in five months, with 3,045 new infections.
The cases are rising even as the government has relaxed travel rules and is considering further easing of restrictions in other sectors. While COVID vaccination is finally underway, herd immunity is still a long way off. Considering that the country confirmed its first variant case only on Jan. 13, the speed of the transmission should raise alarm bells. With the highly infectious nature of the COVID variants, the vaccine rollout should not lull the country into a false sense of safety.