MANILA, Philippines — Philippine health authorities reported Saturday that they found a new coronavirus variant in the country, but said this is not a variant of concern, even if it carries two mutations which have shown to increase transmissibility and dodge some antibodies. The new variant which carries a unique set of mutations is called the P.3 variant and belongs to the B.1.1.28 lineage, like the variant first seen in Brazil called P.1. The Department of Health said that the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center previously detected 85 cases of this variant, and that an additional 13 have been found, bringing the total number of P.3 cases in the country to 98. Health authorities said that all current available data is insufficient to conclude whether the variant will have significant public health implications, despite carrying both the E484K and N501Y mutations. The DOH has not yet responded to queries on whether the P.3 variant was the same one detected by Japan.

Source: Philippine Star March 13, 2021 03:55 UTC