MANILA – The more contagious B.1.617 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant first discovered in India has been detected in the Philippines.
According to Department of Health (DOH) undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the county had two detected cases so far, and they have already recovered from the virus.
The first case of B.1.617 variant was a 37-year-old seaman who returned to the country from Oman on April 10, while the second case was a 58-year-old seaman who returned on April 19.
“These two patients do not have travel histories to India,” Vergeire said during DOH’’s virtual presser on Tuesday.
DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Althea de Guzman, for her part, ruled out the possibility of the two patients spreading the highly-contagious variant since they were brought straight to quarantine facilities upon arrival.
“Pagdating nila ng bansa diretso sila sa quarantine kaya wala po tayong na-detect na close contacts,” De Guzman said in the same presser.
The India COVID-19 variant was dubbed a “double mutant” due to the presence of two notable mutations in the spike protein of the virus, which are said to allow the virus to easily gain entry into the human body and multiply faster.
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified B.1.617 as one “of concern” joining the variants first detected in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1).
WHO defines a “variant of concern” as one associated with increased transmissibility or “detrimental” change in COVID-19 epidemiology, increased virulence, or decreased effectiveness of health protocols, diagnostics, vaccines, or therapeutics.
While the B.1.617 contains mutations linked to heightened transmissibility, reduced antibody neutralization, and immune escape, some studies showed that vaccines may still offer protection from it./PN
