Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 4) — The results of the study to determine if the new COVID-19 variant is now in the country is expected to be made available this week, Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Monday.
She stressed the new COVID-19 variant — first reported in the United Kingdom and believed to be more contagious — has not yet been detected in the Philippines based on an analysis of samples collected in October. But the study on data collected from November and December will be out by Wednesday or Thursday.
The Philippine Genome Center, the Department of Health’s Epidemiology Bureau, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health are conducting the whole genome sequencing of specimens. This study can detect whether the new variant has reached the Philippines.
Vergeire said the researchers took specimen from travelers who arrived from countries with confirmed cases of the new variant. She said two swabs were taken. For those who test positive in the RT-PCR test, their swab will be forwarded to the Philippine Genome Center for further study.
“Lahat ng dumadating from affected countries that we have already identified are being swabbed,” she said in a media briefing.
The Department of Health added that researchers are also studying samples from hospitalized patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in November and December.
