DOH: Probe on Cebu resident who tested positive for UK variant in QC ongoing

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said the investigation on the Liloan, Cebu resident who tested positive for the UK coronavirus variant in Quezon City is still ongoing after the local government released information on the patient.

DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Alethea De Guzman said their investigation will involve several cities since the patient was reported to have gone to Parañaque, Manila, Pasay, and Quezon City.

“This is an ongoing investigation not just with the Quezon City CESU (City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit) but also with other CESUs,” De Guzman said at a virtual briefing.

The Quezon City government said the 35-year-old patient is an overseas Filipino worker who returned to his hometown of Liloan from South Korea in August 2020. 

In November of the same year, he moved to Sucat, Parañaque and frequented the office of a manning agency in Malate, Manila.

He stayed in a Manila hotel on January 17 while awaiting overseas deployment. He also underwent a swab test in Pasay that day.

On January 18, he learned that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and his sample was sent to the Philippine Genome Center for sequencing.

However, he continued to stay in the same Manila hotel until January 21. Afterward, his agency booked him a ride through an app and transferred him to an apartment on Riverside Street in Barangay Commonwealth.

“I really don’t want to conclude kung saan nakuha dahil ‘yung information na ‘yun, ‘yung mga nakukuhang information ng CESU natin ay paunang impormasyon pa lamang,” De Guzman said.

“Kailangan talaga nating mag-backtrace… para ‘pag tayo ay nagsabi kung saan posible niyang nakuha yung infection, we’ll have more confidence,” she added.

The Philippines has so far registered 25 cases of the UK variant, 22 of whom have recovered, one died, and two remain active. — RSJ, GMA News