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DOH: More cases of South Africa, UK, Philippines COVID-19 variants recorded


Experts have detected an additional 266 cases of the UK, 351 of South Africa, and 25 Philippines COVID-19 variants, the Department of Health said Sunday.

With the help of University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH), the latest cases were detected from 752 samples sequenced nationwide.

In a press statement, DOH said, of the 266 UK (B.1.1.7) variant infections, 11 are returning Filipinos living abroad, 188 are local cases, and 67 are still for verification.

The new cases also brought the total number of B.1.1.7 variant infections to 658. Of the total, eight already died, 204 recovered and 54 are still active.

Studies show that this variant has a higher reproduction rate, compared to other variants. 

Of the new South Africa (B.1.351) variant cases, 15 are returning overseas Filipinos, 263 are local cases, and 73 are under further validation. This raised the total cases to 695, which includes 293 recoveries and four deaths.

A previous study found that this South Africa variant reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine created by AstraZeneca drug maker, which is now called  Vaxzevria. 

Of the additional 25 Philippines (P.3) variant infections, which is not a "variant of concern," the DOH said two are returning overseas Filipinos, 21 are local cases while two are still unclassified.

This increased the total tally of P.3 variant cases in the country to 148, with one active case and 24 recoveries.

Further, DOH experts said they are still determining whether the P.3 variant  has "significant implications on public health."

Meanwhile, the P.1 variant cases, which was first detected in Brazil, remained at two.

On Saturday,  COVID-19 has infected 926,052 Filipinos. Of the total, 706,532 recovered from the severe viral illness and 15,810 succumbed to the disease.  —LBG, GMA News

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