Philippines Reports Domestic Transmission Of U.K. COVID-19 Variant

KEY POINTS

Health officials traced 144 close contacts of the 12 cases of the new variant
34 of the 144 contacts tested positive — six of them negative for the new strain
Rest of the 34 samples are yet to be submitted for genome sequencing

As a new variant of COVID-19 threatens fresh rounds of lockdowns in several countries, the Philippines has confirmed domestic transmission of the variant.

Following the spread of the virus in the mountainous northern province of Bontoc, President Rodrigo Duterte has scrapped a plan to allow minors to step out of homes.

“Right now, we have local transmission where this individual or these cases with the variant have already infected their community, their family,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told channel ANC on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Health authorities have traced back the outbreak to a person who arrived in the Philippines from the U.K. on Dec. 13. After getting a negative swab test, the person went to Bontoc and attended a Christmas celebration, CNN reported. The person reported COVID-19 symptoms on Dec. 29.

The country’s health ministry said that the new variant spread among 12 people in Bontoc, all contacts of the traveller from the U.K. Health officials traced 144 close contacts of these 12 cases and 34 of them tested positive for COVID-19. Vergeire was quoted as saying by CNN Philippines that six of the 34 were negative for the UK variant while the rest of the samples are yet to be submitted for genome sequencing.

A Filipino worker who has travelled to the United Arab Emirates was the first of the 17 cases of the new strain reported in the Philippines. The Bontoc cases mark the first instances of domestic transmission.

The new strain, first detected in Kent in September, is considered to be more deadly and fast-spreading. It has spread to more than 50 other countries.

The Philippines suspended flights from the U.K. on Dec. 24. The country later extended its ban on travellers from more than 30 countries where the new variant had been detected. It will be in effect until Jan. 31.

The Philippines is one of the worst affected countries in Asia with 515,000 coronavirus cases and over 10,000 deaths, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.