Manila Bulletin
No UK, South African variants of SARS-CoV-2 in PH based on initial genome sequencing
The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) have announced that the UK variant of COVID-19 has not yet been detected in the Philippines.
This conclusion is based on genome sequencing performed by the PGC on 305 positive COVID-19 samples from inbound travelers and hospital admissions between November and December.
The PGC's lineage analysis of these samples confirmed that the UK variant was not present.
Genomic sequencing involves analyzing virus samples to compare them with other cases and identify specific variants.
This announcement follows news that Hong Kong health officials identified the UK variant in a traveler who recently returned from Manila.
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News Sources
See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
A 30-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Cagayan Valley, who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, tested positive for the UK COVID-19 variant.
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The Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring three COVID-19 virus variants, including the variant identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Malaysia.
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A health expert is not ruling out the possibility of the presence of a new, more transmissible COVID-19 variant in the Philippines.
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Ten relatives of an overseas Filipina worker (OFW) in Cagayan who tested positive for the UK COVID-19 variant in Hong Kong have tested negative.
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The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed on January 2, 2021, that the new COVID-19 variant first detected in the United Kingdom has not yet been found in the Philippines.
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