MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday insisted that there is no emergence yet of the P.1 COVID-19 variant that originated from Brazil (Brazil variant), after Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte reported that her city has one such case. “Wala pa po tayo Brazilian variant (We don’t have a Brazilian variant), the Brazilian lineage must have been interpreted as a Brazilian variant,” Vergeire said. The Brazilian lineage Vergeire was referring to is the B.1.1.28 lineage, which the DOH said is different from the P.1 Brazilian variant. As of March 9, the Philippines has 600,428 COVID-19 cases, with 546,078 recoveries and 12,528 deaths. Meanwhile, the DOH has tallied 58 cases of the South African variant, and 118 cases of the UK variant in the Philippines.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 10, 2021 06:31 UTC