Philippines monitors new transmissible COVID-19 variant from South Africa

Malacañang said it is closely monitoring the new coronavirus variant from South Africa that is believed to be more transmissible.

Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles stated that genomic surveillance is ongoing and the Philippines remains in touch with the World Health Organization (WHO) for further guidance.

The Department of Health (DOH), through Dr. Beverly Ho, said they are waiting on WHO's advisory regarding the variant, which may be released later today or tomorrow.

The B.1.1.529 variant has at least 10 mutations compared to two for Delta and three for Beta, and is linked to a surge in infections in South Africa.