The Philippines has recorded 18 new, mostly imported cases of the more infectious UK variant of COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Sunday, February 21. 

In an official statement, health officials said the new cases were among the 7th batch of samples sequenced by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) on Thursday, February 18.

This brings to 62 the total number of UK variant cases in the Philippines.

The 18 new cases listed include 13 positive samples found among returning overseas Filipinos who entered the country from January 3 to 21, 2021. 

Another 3 were cases from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), two of which were from 12 year-old males connected to the original cluster of cases from Samoki, Bontoc, Mountain Province. 

Meanwhile, the third case was a 41-year-old female connected to the first La Trinidad cluster. 

The DOH said the 13 returning overseas Filipinos positive for the variant have now recovered, and health officials were investigating compliance with isolation protocols for these cases. The 3 CAR cases were also tagged as recoveries, while their close contacts have completed quarantine. 

Aside from these, two cases were still under further verification to confirm if they were local cases or were linked to returning overseas Filipinos. The DOH said it will report additional details once available. 

Additional cases with mutations

On Sunday, the DOH said its regional office in Central Visayas was notified of 3 more cases found to have mutations. This included one belonging to the 6th genome sequencing batch found to have both N501Y and E484K mutations, and another 2 among the 80 Central Visayas samples sequenced in the 7th batch found to have both mutations.

The 3 new cases brings the total number of cases with mutations to 34. 

Health officials said case investigation was now being done to aid in curbing transmission of the disease, while contact tracing for new detections were currently ongoing in coordination with concerned local government units (LGUs), local health offices, local epidemiology and surveillance units, and law enforcement authorities. 

The DOH, UP-PGH, and UP National Institutes of Health said they were preparing to submit new findings on the mutations to the World Health Organization and the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) “to aid in the ongoing global effort to track and study new and emerging genomic changes in the SARS-COV-2 virus.” 

Information on genomic changes to the virus may also be used to adjust vaccines to ensure they remain effective against COVID-19. 

Meanwhile, the DOH directed LGUs where cases with the UK variant and “mutations with potential clinical significance” have been found to ensure health measures like localized lockdowns, immediate contact tracing, and isolation were implemented to prevent the spread of infections.

LGUs should also flag increases in COVID-19 cases with the DOH immediately, health officials said, to activate “targeted biosurveillance activities.” 

“The DOH emphasizes the need to strictly practice and enforce minimum public health standards in order to lower infection rates and consequently reduce the risk of mutations of potential clinical and epidemiological significance. The goal is to bring down transmission rates to levels where biosurveillance can no longer detect mutations of interest,” the DOH said. – Rappler.com