(Eagle News) — The Department of Health has confirmed the local transmission of the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant in Bontoc, Mt. Province.
“To date, all identified cases with the UK variant can be epidemiologically linked to cases coming directly from outside the country (importation) or from specific cases or exposures that can still be identified (local transmission),” the DOH said in a statement.
It said, however, that there was “no strong evidence” of community transmission of the B.1.1.7 variant based on the criteria laid down by the World Health Organization.
According to WHO standards, there is community transmission when there are: appearance of large number of cases, occurrence of case clusters in multiple areas, and inability to link cases to known sources of infection.
According to the DOH, of the 12 UK COVID-19 variant cases from Bontoc from the total 17 UK COVID-19 variant cases in the Philippines, seven were men while three were children aged 5, 6, and 10.
Eleven of these 12 cases came from Barangay Samoki.
“The case clustering in Barangay Samoki was reported to have begun with an ROF who came from the UK. This ROF and his wife traveled to Bontoc via a private vehicle after testing negative on arrival,” the DOH said.
The department said “abdominal symptoms” prompted the ROF to seek medical consult, and subsequent RT-PCR testing yielded COVID-positive.
“His sample was sent to UP-PGC (University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center) but was negative for the B.1.1.7 variant,” the DOH said.
So far, the DOH said the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit and local authorities were conducting “backward tracing” to determine how the cases in Bontoc got the UK variant.
It added, however, that mutation was “normal.”
“Mutation is a normal response and not necessarily ‘bad’ but higher case numbers may lead to additional mutations and appearance of variants of concern,” the DOH said.
Other UK variant COVID-19 cases
The DOH also gave updates on the other five UK variant cases in the country.
The Quezon City resident who arrived from Dubai, UAE has already tested negative for COVID-19 but is under monitoring.
The DOH said the two returning overseas Filipinos who returned to Manila from Lebanon aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 8661 on December 29 were placed in facility-based isolation and were discharged from isolation on January 9 and 13, 2021.
The 23-year-old male Calamba City resident who tested positive for COVID-19 on December 10, for his part, has since completed his mandatory isolation.
The 22-year-old male from La Trinidad, Benguet, on the other hand, was asymptomatic and remains in isolation.
“There is no difference in the necessary actions that people should do for the UK variant. The minimum health standards remain to be the best way to halt transmission and avoid mutation of the virus,” the department said.
