16 UK strain cases reported

THE country said it has found 16 new cases of the more contagious variant of the coronavirus, mostly in the northern part of the country.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said 12 of the cases were in Bontoc town, in Mountain province, over 400km north of the capital Manila.

Two more infected persons were in La Trinidad town, in Benguet province, just south of Mountain province, and in Calamba town, an hour’s drive south of Manila.

Both have not travelled abroad and had no contact with anyone who tested positive for Covid-19.

Two more were overseas Filipino workers who returned from Lebanon on Dec 29.

They were taken to government-run quarantine facilities and had already been discharged after they tested negative.

The Philippines reported its first case of the new coronavirus variant on Jan 13 involving a 29-year-old real estate agent living in the capital who went to Dubai for business from Dec 27 to Jan 7.

He tested positive a day after arriving back in the Philippines from Dubai. He had travelled there with his girlfriend, who initially tested negative but was later found to be positive for Covid-19, although it was not yet ascertained if she had the same variant.

The variant – officially known as VUI-202012/01, or lineage B117 – is believed to be 70% more transmissible than previously circulating coronavirus variants.

First detected in Britain in late September, it has spread to at least 45 countries. But it is not thought to be more deadly or cause more severe illness. — The Straits Times/ANN