DOH Requests NBI Assistance Tracing 2 Unlocated Contacts From UK Variant Patient



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MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) is seeking the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to find the two passengers from the Filipino infected with the UK Covid-19 variant yet to be located.

As of Friday, all but two of the 213 identified contacts of the 29-year-old Filipino patient have been traced and isolated. The patient traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for a few days and returned to Manila on January 7 via Emirates flight EK 332.

READ: UK Covid-19 variant detected in PH

“Last night, I found the other one. So we only have two left. They have already seen a member of Region VII with the help of the Philippine National Police, ”said Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, in an online press conference.

Vergeire added that they will now send the names of the two remaining passengers to NBI.

“We have coordinated with the Department of Justice and today we will provide these two names to the NBI through the Department of Justice,” he said.

The DOH official found that the two untracked passengers provided insufficient contact details and addresses on their flight manifest, making it difficult for contact tracing teams to locate them.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen contacts of the UK variant patient, including his mother and girlfriend, have tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19. Their samples are now at the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) to find out if they also have the UK variant, which is believed to be more infectious.

The PGC is expected to release the results of its study on Saturday, January 23, Vergeire said.

KGA

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For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.

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TAGS: Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, COVID-19, DoH, Health, NBI, Pandemic, Philippines, SARS-CoV-2, UK Variant, Virus

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