Bulacan gov't says 3 residents positive for new COVID-19 variants, clarifies no community transmission yet

The provincial government of Bulacan has clarified that there is no still community transmission of new variants of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the province after three residents, who are returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), were discovered to be infected with United Kingdom and South African variants.

The clarification was made Sunday night after two returning OFWs from the Middle East tested positive for the UK variant while one for South African when they arrived in the country in February.

Meanwhile, "most" of their close contacts were negative for the virus except for one. The local government said it is still waiting for the result of the new patient's genome sequencing to determine if he or she also has the new variant.

Gov. Daniel Fernando gave assurance that the provincial government is monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the province as well as in Metro Manila.

"Magpapatuloy din ang ating selective lockdown sa mga pook o sitio na magtatala ng mataas na kaso. Ito ay isinasagawa natin alang-alang sa kaligtasan ng publiko (The selective lockdown will also continue, especially in areas that will report huge number of new cases. We will do this for the safety of the public),” he added.

Dr. Hjordis Celis, the provincial health officer of Bulacan Medical Center, added that although the OFWs have already recovered from the virus, they will still be scheduled for swab testing on March 15 and 19 "for extra precautionary measures."