By MERLINA HERNANDO-MALIPOT
The Department of Health (DoH) reported 19 new cases of the B.1.1.7 or the UK COVID-19 variant Friday, bringing the total number of such infections in the country to 44.
The DoH, along with the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) and the UP-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH), confirmed the detection of the 19 new cases of the UK COVID-19 variant.
The DoH, UP-PGC, and UP-NIH reported that “no other variant of concern was detected” and that “60 samples from Region 7 fitting sequencing criteria were negative for the B.1.1.7 variant.”
The DoH said that these 19 additional cases of the UK COVID-19 were part of the sixth batch of 718 samples sequenced by the UP-PGC last Monday.
“The sixth batch of samples were sourced from all regions, except BARMM, and were selected to ensure representation of each region as well as areas where spikes in cases have been reported,” the DoH said.
The DoH said that three of the 19 cases have indicated current addresses in Davao region (Region 11): One 10-year-old male, one 54-year-old female, and one 33-year-old male. “All three cases currently do not have any known link to each other (and) these cases are currently active with mild symptoms,” it added.
The DoH noted that two cases have indicated addresses in Region 4-A or the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area: One is a recovered 20-year-old female who was swabbed last Dec. 22 and has unknown exposure and the other case is a 76-year-old female with exposure to a positive case last Jan. 21 and is “currently experiencing mild symptoms.”
It noted that eight – four males and four females – are Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROF) who tested at different ROF catchment laboratories and aged between 28- and 53-years-old. Six of the additional ROF cases are “currently being managed in ROF isolation facilities while two cases have been tagged as recovered.”
The six remaining cases, DoH said, are “currently being verified” if these are local cases or ROF. “Case investigation and contact tracing have been initiated to verify reported information and trace possible sources of infection,” it added.
The DoH said it will release additional information once available.