8 Emirates passengers, 5 contacts of variant case test positive

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, confirmed that eight other passengers of Emirates Dubaimanila flight EK332 and five close contacts of the first B.1.1.7 variant case in the Philippines have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

In a statement, the DOH said the eight Emirates passengers are all Filipino citizens.

The agency said preliminary analysis of their swab samples yielded a cycle threshold value greater than 30, which indicates a low viral load. The new variant that was first detected in England, known as B.1.1.7, has been associated with a high viral load, making it more contagious than the dominant variant circulating globally.

The eight passengers are scheduled to be swabbed again before Thursday, January 21, for a repeat genome sequencing to determine the presence of the new Sars-cov-2 variant.

The DOH said all eight passengers were tested via RT-PCR and quarantined upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on January 7, 2021.

Upon the release of positive RT-PCR results, all eight were transferred to isolation facilities and their samples were secured from confirming laboratories for whole genome sequencing by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).

“All eight co-passengers are in stable condition and will remain under strict monitoring while completing isolation and while waiting for results of a repeat test,” DOH said.

Contact tracing also showed that the eight cases had no close contacts when they arrived, and infection and prevention control practices were strictly observed by personnel who attended to the said cases.

Meanwhile, the five close contacts of the patient who recently tested positive are:

his partner, who was aboard flight EK332 but tested negative upon arrival;

two other co-passengers who also initially tested negative;

another household member; and

a healthcare worker from Quezon City who attended to the index case.

Samples from all five close contacts who tested positive have been sent to the UP Philippine Genome Center (PGC) for sequencing to detect the new variant.

The DOH said it was still awaiting the results. All close contacts are currently isolated and under strict monitoring.

first confirmed variant case is a 29-yearold male from Quezon City who traveled to Dubai with his partner. They returned to Manila via Emirates EK 332 on January 7.

After they were swabbed at the airport, they went to a hotel to undergo quarantine.

On January 8, the man was found positive for Sarscov-2 and diagnosed with pneumonia.

He was transferred to an isolation facility in Quezon City and his specimens were sent to the PGC for whole genome sequencing.

The new variant, which was first detected in England, is reportedly more contagious than the dominant variant circulating globally. It has been detected in 60 countries, the World Health Organization said.

In a bid to block the new variant, the government had imposed travel restrictions on the United Kingdom, United States and over 30 other countries.

When the first variant case arrived, however, the United Arab Emirates was still not on the list of countries covered by the restrictions./