MANILA, Philippines — All Covid-19 patients in Central Visayas with the two detected SARS-CoV-2 mutations of concern, only exhibited mild symptoms of the coronavirus disease and have been cleared from quarantine, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) said.
“All the cases in Central Visayas with the two mutations of concern, these are the E484K and N501Y, exhibited only mild symptoms and have been cleared from their quarantine,” PGC executive director Dr. Cynthia Saloma said in an online press briefing.
DOH Central Visayas director Jaime Bernadas added that all the cases were mild and that “two were even asymptomatic.”
“All of these cases, I referred that to our data, were mild and two were even asymptomatic. Of the cases that were given us—we reviewed the data of these cases—I presumed everyone of them is already out in their homes and communities,” he said.
According to Saloma, the PCG received 70 samples from Central Visayas on February 6, of which 59 samples met the cycle threshold (CT) value criteria for genome sequencing.
She said that of the 59 samples sequenced, 50 were assigned lineages. Of the 50, 31 samples were “initially identified to contain two mutations of concern to the global community: E484K and N501Y.”
On Thursday, DOH-Region 7 said the two mutations of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, were detected in samples from Cebu.
Saloma said health authorities will continue investigating the mutations through enhanced genomic biosurveillance of surrounding areas in Cebu as well as in other regions in the country.
/MUF
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