Aside from the UK variant of COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) is also monitoring another two new variants found in Malaysia and South Africa.

“Sa ngayon, meron na tayong 3 variant na binabantayan. Ito yung sa UK type na variant. Ito yung sa South Africa na variant, and there was this identified na variant din dito sa Malaysia,” Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a virtual briefing.

There were reports that a new variant was found in Sabah. Sulu province has implemented strict border control to prevent the new variant from entering the Philippines.

Vergeire said that the more than 300 samples underwent gene sequencing and the samples did not yield variants relating to the new COVID strains found in UK or South Africa.

“This is a continuing surveillance system that we have established already,” she said.

The DOH is adding more funds in the country’s genome center.

“We are appropriating funds to the Philippine genome center so that we can sustain this because this is important to our surveillance system,” the official added.