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MANILA – The Philippines now has the three variants of the coronavirus that have been causing record spikes in infections worldwide, and one Philippine variant that has the same lineage as the Brazilian infectious variant.
This comes as the country is experiencing another spike in Covid-19 cases to levels not seen since the outbreak peaked in the middle of last year.
The Health Ministry reported on Saturday (March 13) that it had detected the Brazilian variant in a Filipino who recently returned from Brazil. The strain had swept through the city of Manaus in the Brazilian state of Amazonas in November last year. No further details about the carrier were released.
This variant is believed to be fueling a health crisis in Brazil and is now present in two dozen countries. It also has the ability to infect some people who had immunity from previous Covid-19 episodes.
The Philippines is already struggling with two other variants: the British strain and the South African strain that can bypass human antibodies, reducing the effectiveness of some vaccines.
There are currently 177 cases of the British variant and 90 cases of the South African variety in the Philippines.
A fourth variant that originated in the Philippines itself is also spreading. It was first identified in a Filipino who traveled to Japan. This so-called Philippine variant has the same lineage as the Brazilian strain.
Currently more than 90 cases of this local strain are being monitored.
Health officials said it is not yet a “variant of concern,” although it does manifest mutations that show it may be more transmissible than the original version of the coronavirus.
“We still lack evidence to determine whether it will have significant public health implications,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
The Philippines is tightening quarantine restrictions again after seeing an increase in infections in recent weeks, driven in part by the new variants.
The 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew will be in effect again starting Monday (March 15) around Metro Manila, the capital region that is home to some 13 million.
Checkpoints are already being established in some districts to enforce a curfew. Border controls are also being prepared in the 16 cities of the region. This may include reinstalling travel passes.
“We returned to the starting point. We did not advance,” said Senator Joel Villanueva.
The Philippines currently has the second worst Covid-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia, with more than 610,000 cases and more than 12,600 deaths.
The Health Ministry reported 5,000 new infections on Saturday, the country’s largest single-day increase since August. About half of all cases are in Metro Manila.
The Philippines experienced a particularly worrying increase in infections in August. It was when it recorded its highest number of daily cases, 6,598, and replaced Indonesia as the nation with the worst outbreak in Southeast Asia.
Healthcare workers at the time were demanding a “wait time” to avoid the surge in infections from overwhelming hospitals. The government refused to reimpose a blanket lockdown, but promised to tighten quarantine restrictions.
The current peak in cases comes as the government is moving to revive an economy that has been in recession since last year.
President Rodrigo Duterte said last week that he wants to reopen the economy with “a schedule of just weeks.” “We cannot be (under) strict protocols forever,” he said.
The Philippines has begun vaccinating its population of more than 100 million. But with a reduction in global supply, only about a million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have reached the country.
Most of the government-negotiated shipment is not expected to land until the second half of the year.
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