As the country is facing the threat of the new coronavirus variant which is reported to be “more contagious,” the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) confirmed its plans to conduct volume testing.
The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Genome Center confirmed that the B.1.17. SARS-CoV-2 variant was detected in a Filipino male who traveled to Dubai on December 27, 2020 and arrived in the Philippines last January 7 aboard Emirates Flight No. EK 332.
PRC Chairman and CEO Senator Richard Gordon said that it will do contact tracing on all passengers of EK 332 that arrived in the country on January 7 for the new COVID variant.
“The identified individual and his girlfriend didn’t show symptoms and only the former tested positive,” the PRC said. “They are now under quarantine, while authorities are monitoring their household contacts who were also put in isolation,” it added.
The PRC said that the other eight positive cases from the same flight who were tested in its Port Area Lab were sent to the Philippine Genome Center for further testing.
“Philippine Red Cross has always been first, always ready, and always there,” Gordon said. “I can’t thank our frontliners enough for being responsive in contact tracing. This is something to behold from our staff and volunteers who bravely work everyday amid the challenges of the pandemic,” he added.
Gordon also said he is pushing for the approval of the saliva test on COVID-19. “We recently launched a pilot testing of saliva test which involved more than 1,000 health workers and media practitioners,” he said.
Gordon said this is a “pre-requisite” for the approval of the DOH and the Food and Drugs Administration. “If given the green light, the PRC will ensure volume testing for individuals coming in and out of the country for us to trace this new COVID-19 variant, and hopefully, we will be able to contain the variant as soon as possible,” he added.
PRC Molecular Laboratories Head Dr. Paulyn Ubial said that the “only way to prevent the spread of the new variant is to increase the testing count.” She added that the PRC strives to go from 30,000 to 50,000 tests a day to trace and prevent the spread of not only the variant but the "coronavirus as a whole."
The PRC has already established 13 molecular laboratories nationwide. The PRC has so far tested 1,687,718 individuals for COVID-19.