DOH: 41 co-travelers of India variant cases being traced, checked

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said it was tracing and checking the health status of 41 travelers who were onboard the same flights as two seafarers found to have the B.1.617 coronavirus variant first detected in India.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the first B.1.617 variant case, a 37-year-old male from Oman, had six close contacts on his flight.

The second case, a 58-year-old male from the United Arab Emirates, had 35 close contacts on his flight.

Vergeire explained that in a plane setting, “close contact” refers to passengers located four seats in front, behind, and beside a COVID-19 case.

“We are tracing all of them and trying to check all of their statuses,” she said in an online briefing.

Vergeire also assured the public that all the close contacts underwent quarantine and testing upon arrival in the Philippines.

“The protocols were followed and hopefully hindi naman po tayo nagkaroon ng breaches in protocols para masabi natin na merong danger para sa ating mga kababayan,” she said.

(The protocols were followed and hopefully there were no breaches of protocol for us to say that there is danger for our countrymen.)

The two B.1.617 variant cases have already recovered from COVID-19 and are currently in Soccsksargen and Bicol.

The DOH said the two seafarers had no other close contacts aside from their co-passengers since they were immediately quarantined upon arrival.

Aside from B.1.617, the Philippines has also detected the variants first discovered in the United Kingdom (952 cases), South Africa (1,098 cases), Brazil (two cases), and Central Visayas (157 cases). Only 14 of these cases were active as of May 9.—AOL, GMA News