A passenger who had tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant in Hong Kong came from Cagayan Valley, according to the DOH.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday said that a passenger from the Philippines who tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant in Hong Kong came from Cagayan Valley.
In a report on GMA News Online, the Department of Health — citing a report from the Hong Kong International Health Regulations National Focal Point and local Centers for Health Development — said that a 30-year-old woman from Cagayan Valley left the province on December 17, 2020.
She then arrived in Metro Manila on December 18, 2020, and underwent quarantine in observance of workplace protocols.
Last December 19, 2020, she took an RT-PCR test for COVID-19 and the result came out “negative”.
She departed for Hong Kong on December 22, 2020, and underwent quarantine again upon arrival.
Last January 2, 2021, she took another swab test and the result came out “positive” for the COVID-19 variant that was initially discovered in the United Kingdom.
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The said patient remained in isolation and was in stable condition.
In addition, the Department of Health said that contact tracing efforts were underway in order to identify other passengers who were aboard the same flight — including those in Metro Manila and Cagayan Valley.
“They have been instructed to ensure strict quarantine of identified close contacts and for samples collected from said contacts to be sent for confirmatory testing and, if samples test positive, subsequent whole genome sequencing,” it said.
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Health officials in Hong Kong first reported that a passenger from the Philippines had tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant on Tuesday.
Philippine Airlines later said that the said passenger presented a negative RT-PCR test result prior to departure.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health announced that a study of 305 samples didn’t detect the new SARS-CoV-2 variant, the virus that caused COVID-19.
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