Some COVID-19 patients with new variants visited offices, markets, health facilities - DOH

Video courtesy of Department of Health

MANILA — Some COVID-19 patients in Metro Manila who were found with the new variants visited common places such as offices and markets, the Department of Health said Wednesday.

“Meron tayong nakita na common place or setting na pinuntahan nila. They are not linked to one person,” Dr. Alethea de Guzman, OIC Director III of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, said when asked if there were linkages among the variant cases, especially those from the National Capital Region (NCR).

(We saw common places or settings that they went to. They are not linked to one person.)

“Halimbawa, nakita natin offices. Pareho sila ng opisina o pareho sila may pinuntahan na health facility or market,” she added.

(For example, we saw offices. They went to the same office or they went to the same health facility or market.)

Of the 4,310 COVID-positive samples that underwent genome sequencing this year, 8.7% had variants of concern.

The NCR, in particular, had more cases — 76 for the B.1.1.7 or the variant first detected in the United Kingdom, and 105 for the B.1.351 or the South African variant.

The DOH previously said that all cities and municipalities in NCR now have variant cases.

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“Ito yung pagpapaalala na ang exposure, infection, hindi lang sa bahay. Oo, kadalasan sa bahay yan (hawaan). Pero maraming setting outside the place and kasama ang mga offices, workplaces, mga public places and even health facilities kung saan kailangan lahat ng safety protocols, nand'yan,” De Guzman said.

(This is a reminder that exposure and infection is not just observed in homes. Yes, usually infections spread in households. But there are many other settings such as offices, workplaces, public places and even health facilities where safety protocols should really be in place.)

Asked how people are infected in public markets, De Guzman said it is because of the crowding of people.

“Sa markets, isa s'ya talaga sa challenging na setting to maintain physical distancing o pagma-mask. Pero hindi ibig sabihin na challenging, hindi po natin magagawa,” the health official said.

(It really is challenging to maintain physical distancing and to enforce the wearing of masks in markets. But it doesn’t mean that if it’s challenging, it’s something that cannot be done.)

De Guzman said people may also get infected in workplaces during break time when employees remove their face masks to eat.

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She said those reporting for work should try their best to lessen exposure to other people by avoiding face-to-face meetings and eating alone.

The last genome sequencing run was only able to test 150 samples due to the shortage in kits.

But De Guzman said the Philippine Genome Center was already able to acquire kits good enough for 6 months, which means they can go back to processing 750 samples a week.

De Guzman said the World Health Organization will also be offering technical assistance to the Philippines as the country looks into the various variants of concern and the P.3 variant present in the country.

The P.3 variant, which was first detected in the Philippines, contains mutations that are said to make the virus more transmissible or make a vaccine slightly less effective. However, additional studies need to be done.

“Meron na silang nakakausap na experts (They are already talking to experts),” De Guzman said of the WHO. “They realize we don’t need just one. We might need a number (of experts) to address our requests.”

The DOH told ABS-CBN News that the WHO experts will likely be working remotely with them to get a better understanding of the variants in the country.

De Guzman said they have yet to see any increase in severe illness or death due to the UK variant, contrary to the results of a study in Britain. However, there may still be more deaths due to the larger number of cases.

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The DOH previously said that while variants are contributing to the increase in cases in Metro Manila, the main cause is still the non-compliance with health measures.

A few days ago, the country saw record-high daily tallies of cases. The government has since implemented additional restrictions for NCR and nearby provinces affected by the surge in cases.

• COVID-19 cases in NCR 'increasing at a fast rate,' says DOH