[ad_1]
MASS TESTING Residents of Bontoc, Mountain province, undergo free government mass swab testing on January 28 in the provincial square following a surge in COVID-19 infections including the UK’s most contagious variant. —PHOTO FROM BONDOC’S FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Saturday the detection of more cases of the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 COVID-19 variants than were first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, respectively.
In a statement, the DOH said 46 more cases of the UK variant and 62 additional cases of the South African variant were detected.
Apart from this, the DOH also detected six more cases of the P.3 COVID-19 variant.
With the additional infections, the Philippines now has 223 cases of the UK COVID-19 variant and 152 cases of the South African variant.
UK variants
Of the new UK variant cases, 36 are local cases from the National Capital Region (NCR), two are cases involving returning Filipinos overseas (ROF), and eight cases are currently being checked for cases. local or ROF, the DOH said.
“The two ROFs detected have the following regions as indicated addresses: the Cagayan Valley and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM),” DOH said.
South African variants
Meanwhile, DOH said that of the new South African variant cases, 43 are local cases and 19 are being verified whether they are local cases or ROF.
“Of the 43 local cases, 41 are from NCR and two are from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon),” said DOH. “According to the list of case lines, 60 cases are still active and two have recovered.”
Variant cases P.3
Meanwhile, the DOH said that of the six new P.3 cases, four of them were identified in NCR, while two are still being verified if they are local cases or ROF.
Despite the additional cases, DOH held that variant P.3 is not a “variant of concern” as current data is still insufficient.
“DOH urges the public to stay home unless extremely necessary and remember to avoid the three Cs (confined spaces, crowded places, and close-contact environments). With the upcoming Easter, DOH encourages everyone to avoid large congregations and practice religious activities at home, ”the department urged.
On Friday, DOH reported 7,103 new cases of COVID-19, making it the highest count on record since the pandemic reached the country. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is 648,066.
Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases, the OCTA research group proposed the implementation of a “hard general community quarantine” (hard GCQ) or a “soft modified enhanced community quarantine” (MECQ).
/ MUF
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our leaders in healthcare and still accepts cash donations to be deposited into the Banco de Oro (BDO) checking account # 007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this Link .
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
