Nearly a month after a Filipina domestic worker in Hong Kong tested positive for the United Kingdom (UK) COVID-19 variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said that her case has been resolved and was now considered closed.

In a virtual press briefing on Friday, January 29, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that all identified close contacts of the Filipina tested negative for the more infectious variant of COVID-19.

“Lahat po na na-genome sequencing natin na close contacts niya ay negatibo para sa UK COVID-19 variant (All of her close contacts underwent genome sequencing and all tested negative) that’s why the case closed already,” Vergeire said.

Vergeire said that all close contacts of the Filipina from Cagayan Valley and Metro Manila took RT-PCR tests, and the samples that could be tested for the new variant were processed for genome sequencing. However, Vergeire did not say how many of those close contacts were tested.

A sample can only be subjected to genome sequencing if its cycle threshold or CT value is less than 30, which means that it has a high viral load. CT value is the measure of the viral load of a patient – the lower the CT value, the higher the viral load. Vergeire said clinicians use this method to further confirm if a positive RT-PCR test must pass through genome sequencing .

Genomic sequencing is the process of analyzing the virus sample taken from a diagnosed patient and comparing it with other cases to see whether those who tested positive for COVID-19 have the new variant.

Though it was labelled a “closed” case, it was not determined where and how the Filipina was infected with the new variant of the virus.

“We were not really able to test all those who had been with her in that flight. Hindi rin naman po nagawan ng further investigation doon sa Hong Kong. Hindi po talaga natin masasabi kung doon niya sa Hong Kong nakugha or dito sa Pilipinas (No further investigation was also done in Hong Kong. We cannot really tell if she got it in Hong Kong or here in the Philippines),” Vergeire said.

Vergeire added that all identified contacts were quarantined and “monitored properly” for 14 days. They all have recovered, she added.

The 30-year-old domestic worker from Solana, Cagayan was the first known Filipino case of the UK variant of COVID-19, when Hong Kong health officials on January 5 said that they found the new variant in her samples. She returned from Manila on December 22.

The UK COVID-19 variant known as B117 – believed to be more contagious than the original variant – was first detected in the United Kingdom in September 2020.

The country has so far detected 17 cases of the UK variant in the country. – Rappler.com