TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) in Eastern Visayas has detected the presence of the more infectious United Kingdom (B.1.17) variant of the new coronavirus in the region.
Dr. Marc Steven Capungcol, head of the DOH regional epidemiology and surveillance unit, on Wednesday said at least four individuals tested positive for the virus variant.
According to him, two of the four persons who tested positive for the UK variant were returning locally stranded individuals from Catubig town in Northern Samar while the two others were from Calbayog City in Samar.
Ernesto Olimberio, focal person of the municipal inter-agency task force on COVID-19 in Catubig, said the two persons who were found to be positive for the UK variant came from Metro Manila.
“Both are women and one of them is a senior. Both have recovered now and are doing fine. They were quarantined and later isolated after they were tested positive for COVID so there is no chance that they could infect their families,” he said in a phone interview.
The town has 35 COVID-19 cases with one death since the pandemic started last year.
Capungcol said that a team from their office is now in Calbayog City to conduct further investigation on how the two persons got the infection.
He, however, said the four samples that were tested for the UK variant were part of the samples that their office sent to the Philippine Genome Center last March.
Since the start of this year, the DOH in the region has sent 122 samples for sequencing at the genome center.
Capungcol admitted that the rise of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas could be attributed to the existence of COVID-19 variants in the region.
On Wednesday, the DOH reported 258 new cases of COVID-19, the highest number ever recorded in the region since the pandemic started last year.
Eastern Visayas currently has 21,176 COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Exuperia Sabalberino, director of the DOH Eastern Visayas, appealed to the public to follow the minimum health protocols to stop the spread of the virus that has already killed 321 individuals in the region.
“COVID is still here with us. Our positivity rate is high. Please avoid super spreader events. It’s not yet time for us to go out. Please protect yourself, your family, and your community,” she said.