NBI help in contact tracing sought
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Saturday said that the Department of Health (DoH) will seek the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in tracing individuals who have contacts with the 16 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) variant from the United Kingdom (UK).
In a Laging Handa briefing, Vergeire cited the need to locate those who were in the same flight with two overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from Lebanon who took Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR8661.
“Seeking the help of the NBI will be our extra measure to locate all the acquaintances of the new UK variant patients,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire added that the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Philippine National Police and contract tracing czar Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong are already helping in the contact tracing efforts of the DoH.
Aside from the first case of UK Covid variant who traveled from Dubai, the DoH has confirmed that the 16 new cases of UK variant, including 12 from Mountain Province, two from Lebanon and two from Calamba, Laguna.
“Mayor Magalong is really helping to facilitate the contact tracing of all the individuals who were exposed to these new variant cases from UK, if one or two days we cannot trace these individuals, we will submit their names to the NBI to get more details about these persons,” she added.
Vergeire added that the DoH already coordinated with the concerned local government of the new UK variant patients.
She said that based on the information gathered by the DoH, a resident from Bontoc arrived in the country on 13 December where he was tested negative and proceeded to his hometown in Bontoc on 14 December.
“There was a celebration with their family where a ritual was held because of their beliefs and afterwards their symptoms started to manifest,” Vergeire noted.
On the other hand, Vergeire said that he two OFW from Lebanon were first tested positive for Covid-19.
“The variant was not detected but it was questionable according to our scientist in the Philippine Genome Center. So, they decided to re-run it. The test results of 14 others came out yesterday,” she noted.
She said the DoH has already coordinated with the concerned agencies to trace the other passengers who were with the PAL flight from Lebanon.
“We were able to mobilize already our regional offices,” she said.
At the same time, Vergeire said that tests are being conducted on the first case of UK variant from Dubai despite being tested negative for Covid-19.
“He needs to test negative in all the examinations and as of now we are awaiting the results of the test on him. We will monitor him for one month to ensure that he has fully recovered,” she said.