Tuguegarao City, CAGAYAN — The Department of Health (DOH) confirms that the COVID-19 variant from India has been detected in the Philippines.
The B.1.617 COVID-19 variant has been found from 2 people in the country from genome sequencing according to DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a presser on Tuesday, May 11.
DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau added that there were 2 out of the 46 specimens that have tested positive for the said variant from the recent genome sequencing conducted.
The health department said one of the returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Soccsksargen who arrived in the country from Oman last April 10, and was only tested last April 15.
The 37-year-old male has been confirmed by DOH to be a sea-based OFW, and was isolated in a hotel in NCR. The patient is now fully recovered and is under home quaratine in his home in Soccsksargen.
The second patient is also a ROF, also sea-based overseas worker from Bicol. The 58-year-old male arrived in the country from UAE last April 29, tested last April 24 and was placed under quarantine in Clark, Pampanga.
Both patients have now fully recovered.
Health experts confirm that the new variant from India found in the Philippines has 15 mutations, and has the ‘escape mutation’ which helps the virus evade the human body’s immune system and also has the attributes of ‘efficient spreading’ which is faster in spreading to other hosts than most variants. TNF
(Information data and reports from DOH, DOH Epidemiology Bureau and C.Gonzales, PDI)