The Philippines logged 10 new cases of the B.1.617.2 coronavirus variant first discovered in India, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Saturday, May 15.
The DOH said that one of the new cases was a seafarer who came from Belgium.
"The seafarer disembarked in Belgium and flew back to Manila via the United Arab Emirates. He arrived in the Philippines on a flight last April 24, 2021. He completed his isolation period last May 13, 2021," the DOH said in a statement.
The other nine new cases were crew members of the cargo vessel MV Athens Bridge from India, the DOH said.
The DOH said that four of the nine cases "remain admitted at a hospital in Manila and are currently in stable condition while the other five are currently in an isolation facility."
To note, out of the 21 Filipino crew members aboard MV Athens Bridge, 12 tested positive for the viral illness.
The DOH noted that "samples of the three PCR-positive crew members were not eligible for sequencing. Likewise, these crew members remain in an isolation facility."
With these new cases, the total number of B.1.617.2 coronavirus variant cases in the Philippines stood at 12.
Meanwhile, the Health department also said that 13 new cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom, were detected in the Philippines. There were also seven new cases of B.1.351 variant that was first found in South Africa; and one new case of P.3 --- the variant first detected in the Philippines.