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MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) has sought the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO) to determine whether there is already community transmission of COVID-19 variants in the country.
In an online press conference Monday, Undersecretary of Health María Rosario Vergeire said DOH has yet to confirm community transmission of the new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“We have no confirmed community transmission so far. We still have to investigate further. We have asked the World Health Organization for help, “he said.
(We do not yet have confirmed community transmission. We need to investigate further. We have already requested help from the World Health Organization).
According to Vergeire, the DOH met with WHO officials in the country last Friday to analyze the situation of COVID-19 in the country after the detection of variant B.1.1.7 from the United Kingdom and variant B.1.135 from South Africa. .
He said more studies are needed to provide information to determine the possibility of community transmission of these variants in the country.
WHO has established the following criteria for community transmission: occurrence of large numbers of cases, occurrence of clusters of cases in multiple areas, and inability to link cases to known sources of infection.
So far, the DOH has recorded a total of 118 cases of the most transmissible UK variant and 58 cases of the South African variant which is said to be more contagious and has a potential impact on the efficacy of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, DOH also reported 85 cases of mutations with “potential clinical significance,” or the N501Y mutation related to increased virus transmissibility, and E484K, which also has a potential impact on the efficacy of vaccines.
For the UK variant, the DOH said 39 cases are active, 77 are recoveries and two cases have resulted in deaths.
For the South African variant, 55 are active cases and three are recoveries.
For COVID-19 cases with mutations, 21 are active cases, 62 are recoveries, and the status of the remaining two is being verified, according to the health department.
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What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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