Still no Lambda variant case detected in Philippines, says DOH

The Philippines has not yet detected the Lambda coronavirus variant first seen in Peru, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire urged the public to only trust information on virus variant cases from the DOH and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).

“Until now, with all of these sequences that we have done, we have not detected the Lambda variant yet,” she said at a briefing.

“Ang PGC lang po ang nakakapag-test ng whole genome sequencing dito sa ating bansa so pagkakatiwalaan dapat ang impormasyon na galing sa PGC at saka sa DOH dahil kami po ang may hawak ng datos na ito,” she added.

(Only the PGC can conduct whole genome sequencing nationwide so only trust information from PGC and DOH since we are the ones with the data.)

The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier said the Lambda is still classified as a “variant of interest.”

The WHO defines a variant of interest as one that has genetic changes predicted or known to affect transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape, and one that has been identified to cause community transmission.

Vergeire previously said the Lambda variant is believed to be more transmissible but added that studies have yet to show whether it can cause a more severe infection. 

The Philippines has so far tallied 1,668 Alpha cases, 1,827 Beta cases, and 47 Delta cases, and two Gamma cases. -MDM, GMA News