“The patient is a male resident of Quezon City who departed for Dubai on December 27, 2020 for business purposes and arrived in the Philippines last January 7, 2021 via Emirates Flight No. EK 332,” the DOH said in a statement on January 13, Wednesday.
The DOH added that the patient was swabbed and quarantined in a hotel upon his arrival in the Philippines.
“The positive test result was released the following day and the patient was referred to a quarantine facility in Quezon City while his samples were sent to PGC for whole genome sequencing,” the DOH said.
The female partner of the patient who accompanied him during the trip was tested negative upon arrival. She is currently under strict quarantine and monitoring.
“Both of the returning Filipinos had no exposure to a confirmed case prior to their departure to Dubai nor had any travel activities outside Quezon City,” the DOH said.
Immediate contact tracing was done in coordination with Quezon City local government. The identified contacts were asymptomatic and currently undergoing strict quarantine.
The DOH also secured the flight manifest of the flight in question and contact tracing of other passengers is now underway.
The health department advises passengers of Emirates Flight No. EK 332 to contact their barangay health emergency response teams (BHERTs).
Meanwhile, the QC City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) has heightened its surveillance within the community of the patient to determine the clustered cases.
"We have to remain cautious and vigilant to avert the spread of this new variant. What is important is we take care of the resident, and make sure we don't sow panic in the community," Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
The DOH is closely working with QC LGU to ensure effective measures are in place to further prevent the transmission of the new COVID-19 variant in the country. (PIA-NCR)
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