Thirty-eight more people in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have been infected with the new strain of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), also known as the UK variant.

The Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday that the 38 new infections were a result of people getting in close contact with the 12 patients initially infected by the new variant in Bontoc, Mountain Province, and La Trinidad, Benguet.

“Dito naka-identify tayo na meron nang nagpositibo na kasama niya sa loob ng bahay: nanay, tatay, kapatid, at lola. Apat ang nagpositibo sa close contacts niya and the rest, negatibo po sila (We were able to identify four contacts who tested positive: the patient’s mother, father, sibling and grandmother. Four of the contacts yielded positive tests while the rest were negative),” DOH Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Monday.

Another 34 were earlier tested positive for Covid-19 of which six did not have the new variant. The other 28 are awaiting test results on whether they were infected by the UK variant.

On Sunday, the DOH sent to Bontoc additional contact tracers to track down other people who might have been infected with the new Covid-19 variant.

It was on Friday that the local government of Bontoc reported that 12 of its residents were infected with the new Covid-19 variant.

The first infections of the new variant were recorded in Quezon City.