FOUR of the nine crew members of the MV Athens Bridge found positive of the COVID-19 Indian (B.1.167) variant are being closely monitored in Metro Manila hospitals, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said one of the crew members is intubated, while three are under oxygen support.
Vergeire said the intubated patient “is improving” according to hospital staff, while the three “are doing well.”
Vergeire said the other five seamen are in an isolation facility where they are completing their quarantine requirements.
Over the weekend, the DOH reported that nine crew members of the MV Athens Bridge were found positive for the COVID-19 variant first detected in India.
Another Filipino seafarer from Belgium, who flew back to Manila via the United Arab Emirates, was diagnosed with the Indian variant of the coronavirus.
Vergeire said they are now tracing the co-passengers of the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Belgium. The flight manifest showed that the OFW arrived last April 24. The patient completed his isolation period last May 13.
“ We can ensure that our kababayan is no longer contagious when they return to their local government unit,” said Vergeire, adding: “We are securing the manifesto, seating arrangements so that we can identify the close contacts. We are coordinating with the Bureau of Quarantine now so we can determine the close contacts.”
In all, there are now a total of 12 Indian (B.1.167) variant cases in the Philippines.
Other COVID-19 variants in the country include 967 United Kingdom (B.1.1.7) variant cases, 1,109 South African (B.1.351) variant cases, 2 Brazil (P.1) variant cases, and 158 Philippine (P.3) variant cases.
According to Vergeire, they have asked their regional personnel, especially those in areas where there are clustering of cases, to increase the number of swab samples they are sending to the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).
She said such a high number of samples is necessary “to determine the factors why specific areas have these increasing cases.”
