The Department of Health said that the case of the 29-year-old male in Quezon City who happens to be the first case of UK COVID-19 variant in the Philippines can now be considered ‘case closed’.

DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the case can be considered closed in terms of contact tracing efforts weeks after he was confirmed to have the more transmissible virus.

Vergeire said that all close contacts of the patient had tested negative for the B117 variant of SARS-CoV-2.

Closed na ba ito? Yes, with regards to contact tracing. We have already closed it because we were already able to identify all those close contacts and naipatest naman natin ,” Vergeire said in an online briefing.

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“Quarantined also, they were monitored, and the results for the genome sequencing were all negative. Yes, it is closed na already when it comes to contact tracing,” the health official added.

The DOH also clarifies that the male patient in Quezon City is not the source of infection found in 16 more people mostly in Northern Luzon provinces.

The Quezon City government announced last week that the resident who tested positive for the UK COVID-19 variant had tested negative on his latest swab test results.

“After that, he would be allowed to reunite with his family and reintegrate with the community,” the QC government said.

The QC LGU however said that the man will be under strict health monitoring in the next two weeks.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte however warned those who will be discriminating the patient saying there is an ordinance in the city against discrimination.

“Sa panahon ngayon, huwag na nating bigyang puwang ang diskriminasyon dahil wala itong naitutulong at nakakabigat pa sa sitwasyon,” Belmonte said.

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“Sa halip na pandirihan, ipakita natin ang ating pagmamahal sa kanya at iparamdam na tayo’y masaya na siya’y magaling na,” Belmonte added.

The said resident returned to the country from Dubai with his girlfriend on Jan. 7. Upon arrival, he underwent mandatory testing and 14-day quarantine.

After he tested positive for COVID-19, his sample was sent to Philippine Genome Center for analysis where it was discovered that he had the UK variant.

The resident’s girlfriend and mother, together with 14 other passengers on the said flight, also tested positive for COVID-19 but not for the UK variant.