NBI locates two fellow passengers of Filipino with new COVID-19 variant
MANILA, Philippines — Authorities have located the two fellow passengers of the Filipino man who tested positive on the new and more infectious coronavirus variant.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters Monday that the Department of Justice, through the National Bureau of Investigation, located one of the two passengers and has turned him/her over to the Department of Health.
The NBI has also determined the location of the other passenger, Guevarra added.
DOH last week sought the NBI’s assistance in locating two passengers of the Dubai to Manila flight the 29-year-old real estate agent, index case of the new coronavirus variant.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they could not immediately contact two of the more than 150 passengers of the flight, as they have given numbers that could not be reached.
Fourteen of those who have had contact with the index case tested positive for the coronavirus. Six of these are passengers of the same flight, while six are deemed closed contacts.
Vergeire said last week that they are coordinating with the national government agencies on how to improve their system so more accurate and complete details will be provided to the government, for contact tracing efforts.
Last week the local government of Quezon City said the index case, his girlfriend and his mom have tested negative for the coronavirus. Monitoring however will continue as they finish their quarantine period.
Preliminary estimates find the B117 or the one first detected in the United Kingdom between 30% and 70% more contagious than other forms of the virus. Experts warned that an increase in the transmission of the new variant will lead to more people getting infected and sick, which can overwhelm the country's health system anew.
The Philippines has so far recorded at least 17 cases of the new variant. — Kristine Joy Patag
A thread on new variants of SARS-CoV-2 reported in the Philippines.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) rallies all local government units (LGUs) "to be more vigilant and reinforce measures against COVID-19 to impede the projected increase in cases until the end of the year."
DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos says: “Kami po ay nananawagan sa ating LGUs na bantayang mabuti ang mga kaso ng COVID sa kanilang nasasakupan. We are still in a pandemic and we count on our local officials to lead this war, especially in the coming months where alarming numbers of COVID-19 cases are projected.
He calls on LGUs "to fortify their measures against COVID-19, following the DOH’s recent projection of increase in COVID-19 cases in NCR by October, which can even extend to other parts of the country until the end of the year."
The Department of Health announces the detection of 12 new local cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, bringing the total to 47. Six from Central Luzon, three from Metro Manila, two from Calabarzon and one from Bicol Region.
All Delta cases have been tagged as recovered, but their outcomes are being validated by our regional and local health offices. — Christian Deiparine
The Department of Health says it has confirmed 16 cases of the Delta variant in the Philippines. Of those case, 11 are considered local transmissions.
Another nine UK variant cases of COVID19 were detected in Kalinga prompting the Kalinga Provincial Health Office to reiterate to the public to maintain vigilance and strictly compliance to health protocols.
According to the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit of the Center for Health Development Cordillera, the newly identified cases were from the five towns, one each from Rizal, Pasil, Tanudan and Lubuagan. Four cases meanwhile were detected in Kalinga's capital, Tabuk City.
Kalinga has logged a total of 19 UK variant cases since it got into the country last January 2021. — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao
The Department of Health announces new cases of the following variants detected in the Philippines:
- 1 B.1.617.2 (Indian) variant,
- 104 B.1.1.7 (UK) variant
- 137 B.1.351 (South Africa) variant,
- 4 P.3 variant
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