DOH: 169 contacts of UK variant cases in Davao, Mt Province, Ilocos Norte already identified

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities have so far identified 169 close contacts of the newly reported cases of the UK coronavirus variant in Davao Region, Mountain Province, and Ilocos Norte, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

In an online press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH has already communicated with its regional offices and officials from concerned local government units after announcing additional 19 cases of the more transmissible B.1.1.7. in the country.

“Initially dito sa region sa Davao, they were already able to contact trace 107 individuals. For the Mountain Province case, they have contacts assessed, labindalawa, and from the Ilocos Norte case we have 50 na na-contact trace. These are the initial numbers,” Vergeire said.

She said all of the close contacts have gone through a swab test and the results will be released within this week.

In a statement on Friday, the DOH said that the indicated addresses of three of the 19 new cases—a 10-year-old boy, a 54-year-old woman, and a 33-year-old man—are in Davao Region. The health agency noted that the three cases, all active with mild symptoms, currently do not have any known link to each other.

READ: PH confirms 19 more cases of UK Covid-19 variant; total now 44

Meanwhile, local authorities from Ilocos Norte also confirmed on Sunday that one of the new cases is a resident who has returned from Bahrain and arrived in the province on February 8.

READ: Returning Ilocos Norte resident tests positive for UK coronavirus variant

In the same press briefing, Vergeire also confirmed that one of the new UK variant cases is linked to the Covid-19 cluster in Metro Rail Transit-3 depot.

The DOH has so far confirmed a total of 44 cases of the more transmissible coronavirus variant in the country.

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