DOH monitoring new coronavirus strain in UK

MANILA, Philippines — The new strain of COVID-19 found in the United Kingdom has not been detected in the Philippines, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

At a press briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they coordinated with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to check if it has seen a new strain of the coronavirus “based on their monitoring.”

She noted the RITM said there was none.

“But of course we will be furthering this monitoring. We really have to strengthen it so that whenever there is something like that in other countries, we can immediately identify (if also present here),” she added.

There are reports that a new COVID-19 strain was found in the UK over the weekend which spreads more rapidly than the previous variant.

Meanwhile, Malacañang said members of the government’s pandemic task force would discuss protocols for travelers from the United Kingdom but assured the public that measures are in place to prevent the entry of the new strain of SARS-CoV-2.

“For now, our protocols on all travelers entering the Philippines are in place and that includes mandatory quarantine while waiting for the results of their PCR tests,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing, referring to the polymerase chain reaction test.

“This will be studied and we will come up with guidelines,” he added.

Roque also said it would be impossible for COVID-19 infected persons to enter airports.

“That is impossible for international (flights) because people undergo quarantine pending the release of their PCR test results. If this is domestic, I think they are also asked to present results of a PCR test,” he added.

Other countries have started to impose stricter restrictions on travelers coming from the UK, which in turn also tightened its borders to incoming travelers.

Vergeire said in the Philippines, only diplomats are allowed to enter, as well those with “official business.” “Restriction? I don’t think that would be required at this point. Although of course we are strengthening our measures to prevent the entry of infection,” she added.

The official cited the tight security at the country’s ports and implementation of testing and quarantine for those coming in.

10% of cases below 19

Some 10 percent or 3,167 cases of the 30,360 COVID-19 cases recorded this month are aged 19 and below, data from the DOH showed yesterday.

Based on DOH records in the past three weeks, patients aged zero to nine years old accounted for 1,132 of cases, while 2,035 belong to age bracket 10-19. They represent 10.43 percent of the overall cases.

On the other hand, people of reproductive age account for a majority of cases.

The DOH said age bracket of 20 to 29 had the most cases at 7,641; followed by 30 to 39 with 6,986; 40 to 49 with 4,719; 50 to 59 with 3,709; 60 to 69 with 2,521 and 70 to 79 with 1,137.

There were 459 infections documented among those above 80 years old while the ages of 21 cases are still for verification.

The top regions for COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks are National Capital Region with 558 or 34 percent, followed by Calabarzon with 295 cases or 18 percent and Davao with 175 or 11 percent.

The regions with the least cases are the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 192; Mimaropa with 353 and Bicol with 365 cases.

“The DOH has been closely monitoring these regions and we are also closely coordinating with the concerned local government units to make sure that they get the appropriate support,” the agency added.

Bulletin

The DOH reported 1,721 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total to 461,505. Of this, 23,341 are still active.

Based on the COVID-19 Bulletin of DOH, 82 patients have recovered, increasing the total recoveries to 429,207.

The death toll rose to 8,957 after 10 patients died.

The bulletin showed that 90.7 percent of cases were either mild or asymptomatic. – Alexis Romero