The Philippine Genome Center said that the new COVID-19 variant discovered in the country could be more transmissible but there is no evidence yet that it could cause severe COVID-19.
The Department of Health on Saturday confirmed the P.3 variant, with a total of 98 cases so far detected.
“Sa palagay ko, masasabi natin it’s really a local variant kasi it’s really a local variant of origin. We have not seen that in the 600,000 deposits in the database. So, we believe that it developed locally,” PGC executive director Cynthia Saloma told ABS-CBN.
“Ang magandang nakikita natin sa lahat ng variants of concern, parang wala namang nakikitang increased pathogenicity. Parang hindi lumalala ‘yung symptoms, hindi siya nakamamatay kung hindi ka naman immunocompromised,” she added.
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Pathogenicity refers to the degree of symptoms being experienced by people who contracted the virus.
“‘Pag sinabing pathogenicity, nagiging severe ang symptoms. Parang wala naman tayong nakikita, kahit sa tatlong variants of concern – P.1, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351. Wala naman din silang association sa pagiging mas malala ‘yung sintomas,” she said.
The country sequenced 33 samples from Cebu where different mutations of COVID-19 were found.
“We thought it merited a new lineage. We requested the Department of Health to allow the Philippine Genome Center to have it deposited in the global initiative on influenza data,” she said.
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“Nakita namin sa database, may deposit isa ang Germany. Di natin alam kung nanggaling dito sa ating mga isla, sa Pilipinas. Pero nakita natin sa 34 doon sa database, one was a deposit from Germany, na-collect ang sample nila February 11,” she added.
Saloma said that the country has already detected the variant even before Japan made the announcement.
Some analysts say these variants partly caused the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
“‘Yung mutation niya suggests pwede siyang mabilis na makahawa,” Saloma added. (TDT)
