MANILA – The United Kingdom (UK) variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the B.1.1.7, has not been detected in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the DOH said the UK variant was not detected in any of the 305 positive samples submitted to them from nine institutions based on the lineage analysis through whole genome sequencing done by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).
"The 305 samples analyzed by PGC were composed of positive samples from November-December hospital admissions and from inbound travellers who tested positive upon arrival at the airport," the statement read.
The department issued the statement following reports that a Hong Kong resident tested positive for the variant following travel history from the country.
The DOH said it is in close coordination with Hong Kong’s International Health Regulations focal point to secure official notification and other information regarding the resident who tested positive for the variant.
During a Laging Handa briefing, National Task Force Against Covid-19 deputy chief implementer Vivencio Dizon said the variant is not present in the samples of inbound travelers from different countries.
“Of the over 300 cases that were tested from travelers from countries with known Covid-19 variant coming from the United Kingdom, none was tested for the new variant as of now,” he said in Filipino.
Earlier, he said 74 out of 3,684 overseas travelers that arrived in the country between Dec. 22, 2020 and January 3, 2021 tested positive for Covid-19.
Their samples were taken to the PGC and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to check if these travelers are carrying the highly transmissive variant that was first detected in the UK, Dizon said.
“The Genome Center and RITM continue to analyze the specimen from travelers coming from different countries,” Dizon said in Filipino.
Following confirmed cases of the new variant in several countries, the government imposed temporary travel restrictions from travelers from the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, the United States, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, and Germany.
The government also mandated 14-day quarantine for overseas travelers arriving in the country.
Local government units and the transport regulators are reminded to continuously implement the health protocols in all settings, and the public to strictly observe the minimum public health standards. (With reports from Kris Crismundo/PNA)
