DOH reports first case of B.1.617.1 COVID-19 variant in PH
The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, Nov. 8 reported the first case of the B.1.617.1 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variant, former Kappa variant, in the country.

"One was positive for the B.1.617.1 or the Kappa variant, a variant under monitoring," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum.
She said the first case of the B 1.617.1 variant is a local case from Floridablanca, Pampanga.
"The case is a 32-year old male that has mild disease severity and is now tagged as recovered," Vergeire said.
She added that during the time of collection last June, the B.1.61 7.1 variant was still designated as a variant of interest.
"Further investigation is being done by our regional epidemiology and surveillance unit in order to gather more information on this case, and there is strict monitoring of this case and the community," Vergeire said.
The Kappa variant case was sequenced from among the 748 swab samples processed by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) last Nov. 6 collected during the months of March, April, May, June, September and October.
Of these, the DOH said, 2.94 percent or 22 were positive for the Alpha variant, 2.01 percent or 15 were positive for the Beta variant, 87.03 percent or 651 were positive for the Delta variant, and one was positive for the B.1.1.318 which is another variant under monitoring.