Okay, here we go again—a new variant of COVID-19 from the UK is already detected in the Philippines, are we all ready for it?

On Wednesday, January 13, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that the Philippines has recorded its first case of the UK COVID-19 variant.

Here’s what we know so far about the case:

According to the Philippine Genome Center (PGC), the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7. was detected in a Filipino male who arrived from the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 7.

The patient left for Dubai on Dec. 27, 2020, for a business trip and arrived in the Philippines via an Emirates flight with a female partner but tested negative for the virus

"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, referring to a suburb in the capital Manila.

"Immediate contact tracing was done, and the initially identified contacts are asymptomatic and currently under strict home quarantine," the press release read.

The Quezon City government said in a separate statement said that prior to flying out of the country and on arrival in Dubai, both the patient and his partner tested negative for COVID-19. Upon arrival in the Philippines, the pair were swabbed and quarantined in a hotel before learning that the male patient had tested positive for COVID-19.

“We are doing everything we can to trace and isolate, knowing fully well that this variant is more contagious but not more virulent,” said Quezon City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Cesu) head, Dr. Rolly Cruz.

As a precautionary measure, the patient’s entire household was brought to a quarantine facility for isolation and monitoring. Cesu is also closely monitoring the patient’s community to check for possible infections.

Meanwhile, other passengers of the same flight have been notified but some of them were not entertaining the government’s calls.

“‘Yung iba po patay ang telepono, so ito po ay mga challenges sa atin so hopefully we (will) be able to talk with them today,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergerie said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

The Philippines has already banned travelers with recent travel history to Britain and 32 other countries and regions to prevent the new strain from spreading in the country.

As of writing, The Philippines now has 494,605 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 9,739 deaths.

Since this is alarming news, we all should double our efforts and practice all health protocols.

Keep safe peeps!