The government scrambled to stop the spread of the more transmissible UK variant of the coronavirus after a Filipino worker arrived in the country from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tested positive for it.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that the new and more contagious COVID-19 strain has finally entered the country.
The UK variant was detected after samples from a Filipino who returned home from the UAE on Jan. 7 yielded positive genome sequencing results.
He said close contacts of the man who tested positive for the new coronavirus variant have been traced and isolated.
Roque said it was likely that a travel ban would be extended to include the UAE, depending on the recommendation of the DOH and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
He said President Duterte will decide on whether to include the UAE in the list of 33 nations already covered by travel restrictions.
Roque said that the UAE was not included in the travel ban because there were no reports of the UK variant there.
The travel ban ends Friday, Jan. 15, but may be extended by the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Roque said.
Roque earlier announced the temporary travel ban on the entry of foreign travelers from China, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, and Oman.
The temporary travel ban also covered the United Kingdom, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, and Austria.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the five close contacts of the 29-year-old Filipino male who tested positive for the UK variant of the coronavirus have been isolated and will be tested.
The man lives with his mother, girlfriend and two siblings in Quezon City.
He and his girlfriend went to the UAE in December on board flight Emirates EK 335 and returned to the Philippines on board Emirates 332.
Vergeire said that among the 159 passengers on board Emirates EK 332, 92 or 58 percent have been contacted by authorities and 52 of the 92 responded.
Twenty-three of the 159 passengers were seated in four rows sitting in front, behind or at the side of male Filipino and his girlfriend who went with him during the trip to UAE.
Vergeire said those who did not respond either had unattended phones, number cannot be reached, wrong number or rejected calls of contact tracers.
“The DOH is encouraging passengers to actively reach out to public health authorities for contact tracing,” Vergeire said.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that close contacts up to the third degree will be covered by the contact tracing efforts of authorities.
The DOH already recommended the banning of travelers from the UAE alongside 30 other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom due to the presence of a UK variant of the coronavirus there.
Dr. Rolly Cruz, head of the Quezon City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, said 10 residents of the city had shared the flight with the Filipino who had traveled from the UAE.
Cruz said local officials are checking if he 10 others have violated quarantine protocols.
Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said contract tracing was crucial, now that the UK variant is in the country.
He said the government would build a separate ward for patients who contract the more transmissible variant of the virus.
Vergeire, on the other hand, said there was “no need to panic” over the arrival of the UK variant as long as people wear face masks and face shields, avoid crowded areas and practice social distancing.
The Quezon City government on Thursday assured the public of its preparedness to deal with the case of a 29-year-old resident from Barangay Kamuning who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) United Kingdom variant (B.1.1.7).
Cruz maintained that they were able to implement strict sustained response and effective preparedness measures even without knowing that the patient was positive for the new strain of COVID-19.
Also on Thursday, Philippine Airlines said it is rerouting Middle East flights to land at Clark International Airport due to the limited quarantine testing capacity at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Those affected are flights scheduled departing from Riyadh (PR-5655) on Jan. 14, 15 and 16, Dammam (PR-5683) on Jan. 14 and 16, Doha (PR-685) on Jan. 14, and Dubai (PR-659) also on Jan. 14.
PAL said rerouting to Clark was necessary to avoid the full cancellation of flights.