Contact tracing efforts and maintaining the minimum public health standards are “crucial” responses amid the detection of the South African variant of the coronavirus in the country, an infectious disease expert said on Tuesday, March 2.
“I think we still have to continue the minimum health protocols and we really have to implement it really religiously now that we have the more highly transmissible South African variant,” said Dr. Rontgene Solante, who heads the San Lazaro Hospital Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Department, during the Malacanang press briefing.
“The amount of work that will be done for the contact tracing will be very crucial, especially for those who have been exposed to this South African variant,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday morning reported the first six cases of the South African variant of the coronavirus in the Philippines. Three of which are residents of Pasay City.
“The three local cases were reported as residents of Pasay City, and whose samples were collected between Jan. 27 and Feb. 13, 2021. Two of the local cases, a 61-year-old female and a 39-year-old male, are active cases being managed by Pasay City. The third local case, a 40-year-old male, has already recovered, the DOH said.
“On the other hand, the two ROFs (returning overseas Filipinos) arrived in the country from UAE and Qatar; their statuses are currently being verified. Moreover, the DOH is currently verifying if the sixth case is a local case or an ROF,” it added.
The DOH said that 48 other countries have already reported cases of South African or the B.1.351 variant of the coronavirus.