The Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed the Philippines' first two cases of the COVID variant first detected in India, where an out-of-control surge has made the South Asian nation the world's new pandemic epicenter
The B.1.617, said to be responsible for the record COVID-19 surge in India, has been identified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization.
"Tayo po ay may dalawang kaso na naitala," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters.
Available data suggests "increased transmissibility" of the B.1.617 variant, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's lead on COVID-19.
The variant from India will be added to the list containing three other variants of COVID-19 -- those first detected in Britain, Brazil, and South Africa -- which the WHO has classified as being "of concern".
-- With reports from Agence France Presse
