POWERFUL MACHINE The scientists — all in their 20s and 30s — use the NovaSeq 6000, a $1-million genome sequencing machine to conduct large-scale “whole-genome sequencing” on specimen samples that carry the SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. CONTRIBUTED/ UP PHILIPPINE GENOME CENTER
MANILA, Philippines — The genome sequencing of the samples from the eight Filipinos from China who tested positive for COVID-19 has started to determine which COVID-19 variant had infected them, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday.
The DOH added that it is still coordinating with the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) on the tracking down of the eight Filipinos’ close contacts.
“At present, the DOH is still coordinating with BOQ on the contact tracing status of the passengers. Further, all of the samples were already sent for sequencing yesterday,” the DOH told reporters.
According to the department, the samples were sent to the Philippine Genome Center for genome sequencing.
No exact date was provided by the DOH for the release of the sequencing results, but said results should be expected by next week.
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