MANILA – Children aged five and 10 years old are among those infected with the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant in Bontoc, Mountain Province, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Dr. Thea de Guzman from the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau said the that three minors are among the country’s 16 additional cases of the coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom and believed to be more contagious.
Twelve of the new COVID-19 variant cases are from two barangays in Bontoc, one from La Trinidad, Benguet, and one from Calamba, Laguna. The remaining two are returning overseas Filipinos from Lebanon whose residences are still being validated.
De Guzman also said that, based on the data from Philippine Genome Center (PGC), the new COVID-19 variant was already in the country as early as December 10, courtesy of the specimen of the one patient from Calamba, Laguna.
“Ang mga kasong ito ay patuloy pong under investigation para malaman natin kung ano po ang tinatawag nating exposure – kanino po nila posibleng nakuha ang infection, or di po kaya meron pong significant travel history, especially travel history outside the Philippines,” De Guzman said.
The PGC has processed 1,154 samples of COVID-19 patients, of which 16 were found to be cases of the new COVID-19 variant, a mutated coronavirus believed to be more contagious.
Of the additional 16 cases, three have recovered while 13 are still active. Of the 13 active cases, three are asymptomatic while the remaining 10 have mild symptoms.
The B.1.1.7 variant of the novel coronavirus – first detected in the United Kingdom – is more infectious but does not make the disease more severe.
Earlier, a Quezon City resident who left for Dubai on December 27 and returned to the Philippines on January 7 was declared as the first known case of the new variant in the country last week. He has since recovered.
His girlfriend and his mother tested negative for COVID-19, but officials subjected them to another swab test that yielded a positive result. Their samples are being tested also for a possible case of the new COVID-19 variant. /PN
