Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13) — No unique or unusual COVID-19 variants were detected among the eight infected Filipinos who returned to the country from China, the Department of Health reported.
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The eight Pinoys arrived from China from Dec. 27, 2022 to Jan. 2, 2023. They all tested positive for COVID-19 on antigen tests.
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“Nakita natin tatlo (3) don ay BF.7 at ang isa (1) ay BA 5.2. Ito yung mga hindi bagong variants. Dati na natin ito nade-detect. Unusual or unique? No,” DOH Director IV of the Epidemiology Bureau Dr. Alethea De Guzman told reporters when asked about the genome sequencing results of the eight Filipinos.
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[Translation: We saw three had BF.7 and one had BA 5.2. These are not new variants. We have detected these before.]
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She added that while eight of them tested positive for COVID-19, four of the infected Pinoys could not be assigned a specific coronavirus lineage.
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“Bakit hindi lahat may na-assign na lineages noh? Minsan sa kakatransport nadedegrade yung quality ng specimen kaya hindi natin siya ma-sequence,” De Guzman explained.
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[Translation: Why haven’t all of them been assigned lineages? Sometimes, when in transit, the quality of the specimens degrade which is why we cannot sequence them.]
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