DAVAO CITY —CONTRARY to persistent rumors, the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro has assured there will be no lock down in the entire province, and that its two patients earlier declared by the Department of Health (DOH) as positive of COVID-19’s “United Kingdom variant” are asymptomatic and in strict isolation.
The COVID-19 UK variant called “B.1.17” is deadlier and spreads more easily and quickly than the other variants.
In a statement posted on the province’s website early evening on February 16, the provincial government added massive contract tracing and swabbing are going on to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 UK variant.
Last February 15, the province’s post said that at least 300 people had already been swabbed.
It can be recalled that both the 33-year-old male from Compostela and 54-year-old from New Bataan, all of Davao de Oro were found positive of COVID-19 last January 26.
The 33-year-old patient is now on his 27th day in isolation while the 54-year-old patient was found negative in a re-swabbing last February 2. The patient was discharged on February 6, but continued to be under home quarantine.
Both have no travel history to places where there are confirmed B.1.1.7 cases, but the DOH officials told the province’s anti-COVID-19 operations center officials that specimen from the two will be subjected to genomic study at the Genome Center in Manila.
After several days later, the provincial government said itwas learned that the two patients were positive of B.1.17.
The DOH requested the provincial government’s health office to re-swab all the close contacts of the patients to determine whether or not the patients have infected other people.
Meanwhile, the provincial government post added that the province’s COVID-19 cases is down to 167, but continued to remind residents to strictly follow DOH’s protocols against COVID-19.
