The Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed the detection of the new variant of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines.
According to the health department, the UK strain of COVID-19 that is found to be more transmissible than the original variant was discovered in the sample of a 29-year-old male who is a resident of Kamuning, Quezon City. The patient has a travel history of travelling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on December 27 aboard the Emirates flight no. EK335. He was accompanied by his female partner and both of them have tested negative before leaving the country for a business trip.
“While in Dubai, they visited malls, groceries and tourist sites, claiming to be adhering to the minimum public health standards,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire disclosed.
The two individuals returned to the Philippines on January 7 aboard the Emirates flight no. EK332 and underwent a swab test where the man has yielded a positive result for COVID-19 while his partner tested negative.
Moreover, the male patient’s x-ray showed he has pneumonia and was immediately brought to a quarantine facility in Quezon City.
According to Dr. Rolly Cruz of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit in Quezon City, the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERT) that picked up the patient is now in isolation.
Continuous contact tracing is being conducted for the close contacts of the patient. In the flight manifest received by the DOH, 92 have been contacted while 52 have responded out of 159 passengers. The tracing for the second and third generation contacts of the patient has also started Thursday.
Meanwhile, the DOH has recommended to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the Office of the President to include the UAE under the list of travel restrictions. – Report from Mark Fetalco
