The Quezon City government on Wednesday night said it is already coordinating with the Department of Health (DOH) regarding the case of a resident who tested positive for the United Kingdom (UK) variant of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The local government said that the city's Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) is already tracing the close contacts of the patient, particularly the health workers at the isolation facility where he was brought, and the barangay response team that brought him there.
CESU has also initiated a "heightened surveillance in the community" where the patient lives "to determine the presence of clustered cases. At the same time, it is waiting for the DOH to submit the list of passengers who were on the same flight with the patient so the local government could test if there are other city residents.
To recall, the Department of Health confirmed the first case of UK COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.7) in the country on Wednesday night after a male patient, who left the Philippines on December 27 for a business trip in Dubai and returned on January 7, tested positive for the new variant.
Mayor Joy Belmonte called on her constituents to "remain cautious and vigilant to avert the spread of this new variant."
"What is important is we take care of the resident and make sure we don't sow panic in the community," she added.
Read more: UK variant of COVID-19 now in PH