DOH to send mutant Cebu Covid-19 samples to WHO

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) said it would submit to the World Health Organization (WHO) the samples of the two coronavirus disease (Covid-19) mutations detected in Cebu.

In a Laging Handa briefing on Saturday, DOH Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire clarified that the two Covid-19 mutations identified as E484K and N501Y have yet to be considered as new variants.

“Pinag-aaralan pa natin ito, tinitingnan pa rin po natin kung ito po talaga ay maka-classify as variant. Ang gagawin natin, isa-submit po natin ito sa WHO for them to classify at mabigyan nila tayo ng direksiyon kung talagang itong mga mutations na ito ay maitutukoy na natin doon sa mga variants na existing na ngayon globally (We’re still studying this to see if this can be classified as variants. What we will do is we will submit this to the WHO for them to classify it so they can give us proper guidance if these mutations may be considered as among those variants already existing globally),” Vergeire said.

She said there are international systems where the DOH uploads their findings.

She said among the 50 samples from Cebu that were processed, 31 were found to have “assigned lineages” and two mutations were discovered by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).

She said the DOH is now monitoring these mutations that were referred to as “a variant of concern” by Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of DOH in Central Visayas (DOH-7) during a press briefing in Cebu on Thursday.

Vergeire said the mutations have been seen on the other variants from other countries such as the UK, South African, and Brazillian variants.

“Pero hindi po dapat ikabahala ng ating mga kababayan ito sa ngayon. Kasi po pinag-aaralan pa natin ito, tinitingnan pa rin po natin kung ito po talaga ay maka-classify as variant (But we should not be bothered by this because we are still studying it and if it will be truly classified as a variant),” she said.

She said viruses normally mutate, and for the country to have a specific variant.
Vergeire said it needs to have five to seven variants out of the mutations seen in the sequencing.

Currently, she said Central Visayas has intensified their contact tracing as well as their surveillance to see the extent of transmission in Cebu.

She added that they are collecting samples so that they will be processed by the PGC and evaluate them further.

Central Visayas has also intensified their response that includes isolation of those who have been identified to have the said ‘variant of concern’, as well as strengthening their border controls.

The DOH will conduct another assessment after a week to determine if they have controlled the spread of the disease.

Aside from the ‘variant of concern’, Vergeire said another factor to the increasing number of cases in Cebu could be the easing of restrictions as Cebu was placed under the modified general community quarantine.