52 new cases of the South African COVID-19 variant detected by the DOH
The Department of Health (DOH) has detected 52 new cases of the South African variant of COVID-19 in the Philippines.
Of the 52 new cases for the B.1.351 variant, 41 are in NCR. The 11 other cases are still being verified if they are local or returning overseas Filipino workers.
With the new cases, there are now 58 known cases of the B.1.351 strain in the country.
Experts are now studying whether the South African variant — which was first detected on Dec. 18, 2020 — may be more contagious and more resistant to current vaccines.
In addition, the DOH has also reported 31 new cases of the UK variant in the country.
There were also 42 cases of “mutations of potential significance,” according to the DOH. There were no other details on what the latter meant.
The OCTA Research Group noted in a report today, March 5, that the number of new COVID-19 cases daily in the NCR has been averaging 900 from Feb. 6 to March 4, which was up 50% from the previous week.