MANILA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua): The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Saturday 1,797 new confirmed coronavirus disease cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the South-East Asian country to 511,679.
The death toll climbed to 10,190 after 54 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added 166 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 467,886.
The Philippines, with a population of 110 million, has tested over seven million people since the disease emerged in the country in January last year.
The DOH said there is no evidence of community transmission following the detection of the most contagious coronavirus variant in 17 patients in the Philippines.
"Considering that investigation is ongoing it may be premature for us to determine whether there is ongoing community transmission (of the new strain)," Research Institute for Tropical Medicine Director Celia Carlos said in an online press conference.
Edsel Salvana, a member of the DOH's Technical Advisory Group, echoed Carlos, saying there is no evidence of what constitutes community transmission.
"Right now, there is no evidence of community transmission because we only have one cluster, and we know that they are all related," Salvana said in the same briefing, adding that "there is no onward transmission."
Nevertheless, he said the DOH is strengthening its biosurveillance to prevent community transmission.
The Philippines confirmed on Jan. 13 its first case of the new and more contagious variant in a Filipino male who traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It immediately banned entry until Jan. 31 of travelers from 35 countries and regions with the confirmed mutated strain to contain the fast-spreading variant first found in Britain.
On Friday, the DOH confirmed that the variant was detected in 16 other patients amid the travel ban. Twelve of the 16 were from two villages in the Mountain Province in the northern Philippines.
Thea de Guzman of the DOH's Epidemiology Bureau said among those patients found to be carrying the mutated variant were children aged five and 10.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said breaches in compliance with the minimum public health standards are the primary driver of infection and mutation.
He called on the public to continue doing preventive measures properly. "These seemingly insignificant actions may spell the difference between the lives of other people down the chain of infection," he told a virtual press conference.
"It is the little things that can stop the spread of disease, the proper wearing of a mask and face shield may be uncomfortable at times, but enduring a little discomfort can save lives," Duque said. - Xinhua
