BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Four Negrense repatriates are under strict monitoring for possibly being infected with the B117 SARS-CoV-2 variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Their specimens were sent to the Philippine Genome Center to determine if they have the more contagious strain first detected in the United Kingdom, said Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, provincial administrator.
According to Diaz, the four came from countries that have confirmed cases of the B117 variant.
The province’s first two suspected cases were a couple from London. They were both residents of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental.
The two others were a teacher in Talisay City who came home from the United States Virgin Islands and a Bago City resident from Egypt.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the couple had their specimens extracted again because the test kits used for their swabs were intended for locally stranded individuals.
Their results are expected to come out on Wednesday.
There was no further information about the release of the test results of the other repatriates.
The Pontevedra couple was placed under quarantined at the town’s isolation facility. The two others were taken to the Provincial Healing Center in E.B. Magalona town.
The couple tested positive for COVID-19 two days after their Jan. 16 arrival in Negros Occidental.
They tested positive again on Jan. 22, said Mayor Jose Maria Alonso of Pontevedra.
Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Humanitarian Response Team of the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force, advised the couple to follow the protocols set by the local Inter-Agency Task Force of their town and wait until the results of their latest test come out.
The UK variant of COVID-19 is 70 percent more infectious compared to the original variant.
In a report by the British Broadcasting Corp. over the weekend, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the UK variant is also 30 percent more deadly.
In one example, with 1,000 60 year olds infected with the old variant, 10 of them might be expected to die. However with the new variant, around 13 people are now expected to die./PN
