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More than 600 close contacts of 13 people with UK virus variant tested in CAR


At least 615 close contacts of 13 COVID-19 cases infected with the UK variant of coronavirus in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have been subjected to RT-PCR COVID-19 test, the Department of Health said on Wednesday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire was referring to the 13 UK variant cases in the region of which 12 are in Bontoc, Mountain Province while the other case is in La Trinidad, Benguet.

“Iyong teams po namin sa CAR, may nakita na po silang 615 close contacts. First, second and third generation close contacts na po ito [ng mga nag-positive sa UK variant],” Vergeire said.

Vergeire, however, said that it is too early to say if there is a community transmission of the UK variant of the coronavirus.

“Ni-rereview pa po natin. Tinitignan pa kasi may eight OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) OFWs na umuwi po rito. We are just awaiting the RT-PCR test results of these people pa makita natin ang detalye kung saan galing,” she pointed out.

Likewise, Vergeire said that samples from the close contacts of those who tested positive for UK variant, as well as those in areas where there is clustering of COVID-19 cases such as communities, jails and hospitals treating moderate and severe COVID-19 patients, have been subjected to genome sequencing by the Philippine Genome Center to determine if they are also infected with the COVID-19 variant.

“Ginagawa na po natin ito, and by Thursday or Friday we could already have the results,” Vergeire said.

The DOH earlier announced that 38 of the close contacts of 13 COVID-19 cases infected with the UK variant of the coronavirus tested positive for COVID-19.

The DOH earlier announced that the UK variant of coronavirus has been detected in 17 COVID-19 patients, including the index case of the 29-year-old male in Quezon City who was first identified to be infected with the UK variant of the coronavirus.

Of the said 17, 12 are in Bontoc, Mountain Province, one in La Trinidad, Benguet province, one in Calamba, Laguna province, one in Binangonan, Rizal province and one in Iloilo province. -MDM, GMA News

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