MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday has logged six cases of the South African variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.
In a statement, DOH said three of the said cases were from Pasay City, where an uptick of COVID-19 infections was reported lately. Samples of the Pasay City cases were collected between Jan. 27 and Feb. 13.
Two of the three cases, a 61-year-old female and a 39-year old male, are active. While the third one, a 40-year-old male, has already recovered.
The two other cases were detected from returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The sixth case is still being verified if it is a local case or an ROF.
The South African variant, which was first detected in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa in October, was present in around 30 countries and accounts for 90 percent of SARS-CoV-2 samples in South Africa that undergo genetic sequencing.
The variant also has the N501Y mutation in the spike protein. It also contains several other concerning mutations, including “E484K” and “K417N” which can reduce how well a person’s antibodies bind to the virus.
Apart from the six South African variant cases, the DOH has listed an additional 30 cases of the more contagious COVID-19 variant first detected in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7). The department also reported two additional patients with both N501Y and E484K mutations.
DOH undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are hoping to immediately curb the spread of the more transmissible COVID-19 variants, particularly the South African, which is said to affect vaccine efficacy.
“Both have higher transmissibility. The B.1.1.7 or the UK variant and ‘yung ating South African variant,” Vergeire said on Tuesday.
“Kaya ang gusto natin, as much as possible, fast containment tayo ng variant na ito so that we can prevent it to further spread,” she added./PN
