DOH: Philippines detects over 200 more COVID-19 variant cases

The Genome Center and the University of the Philippines’ National Institute of Health on Saturday detected more cases of COVID-19 variants in the country, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

The sequencing yielded one additional B.1.617.2 (India) variant case, 104 B.1.1.7 (United Kingdom) variant cases, 137 B.1.351 (South Africa) variant cases, and four P.3 variant cases, a variant that was first detected in the Philippines.

These figures brought the total to 13 B.1.617.2 variant cases, 1,071 B.1.1.7 cases, 1,246 B.1.351 cases, and 162 P.3 variant cases.

A total of 7,547 samples had been sequenced.

The DOH said the new B.1.617.2 variant case is a recovered returning overseas Filipino (ROF) from the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, among the additional B.1.1.7 variant cases, one is a ROF, 89 are local cases, and 14 are currently undergoing verification.

Of these, five are still active, three have succumbed to COVID-19, while 96 have recovered.

According to the DOH, 127 of the additional B.1.351 cases are local cases while nine cases are still being verified if they are local or ROF cases.

The Health Department said that of the B.1.351 cases, nine are still active while five have died and 123 have recovered from the illness.

Among the new P.3 cases, three are local cases while one is still being verified. The DOH said all P.3 cases have recovered.

“The detection of additional VOC cases supports the need for strict adherence to MPHS to minimize risk of exposure and infection and getting vaccinated once it is our turn,” the DOH said.

“Also, despite local presence of these variants of concern, we can minimize their transmission as well as the emergence of new variants by keeping case numbers down,” it added.

The Philippines reported 1,216,582 confirmed cases, of which 1,142,246 have recovered and 20,722 have died. — DVM, GMA News