57 close contacts in UK – Bontoc traveler test positive for Covid-19 — DOH

(Image from the Municipality of Bontoc Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — Fifty-seven close contacts of a man who traveled home from the United Kingdom to Bontoc, Mountain Province have tested positive for Covid-19, including the 12 individuals infected with the more contagious variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday. 

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH has reconciled its data with those from the Cordillera Administrative Region, which resulted in “deduplication” in the list of close contacts of the traveler from the UK.

In total, there were 369 “unique individuals” identified as contacts of the said traveler, according to Vergeire. She said this includes 233 who have already undergone Covid-19 swab testing.

Of the 233, 57 have tested positive for Covid-19, 135 tested negative, and 41 others are awaiting their test results.

Vergeire said the 57 Covid-19 positive individuals include the 12 who tested positive for the UK variant, and two others who tested negative for the virus variant. 

DOH Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire. FILE PHOTO

Vergeire added that the Philippine Genome Center will release next Monday the test results of other close contacts whose specimens have undergone genome sequencing. 

 “So ngayon may positive tayo na 12, hindi pa rin nababago ‘yan dito sa Bontoc (So now we still have 12 positive cases of the virus variant in Bontoc),” she said.

 The DOH earlier said authorities are conducting contact tracing up to the third generation contacts of the Covid variant patient as an additional measure to prevent its spread in affected communities. 

 The 12 cases in Bontoc are among the 17 confirmed cases so far of the more infectious variant that were detected in the Philippines.

gsg