The Department of Health said on Tuesday test results of specimens taken from individuals who have contact with a female overseas Filipino worker positive for the new strain of coronavirus disease upon her arrival in Hong Kong will come out this week.

In a televised press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said all those who had close contact with the OFW in the province and even in Metro Manila have been identified and are in quarantine.

"All of them are being monitored. We have already gotten specimens for RT-PCR at the same time for the whole genome sequencing," she said.

"So, their samples are being processed now and it is possible that tomorrow or on Thursday, the result will come out," Vergeire explained.

She noted that the OFW, who was found to be infected with the COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom, traveled to Manila from the province before she left for Hong Kong on December 22.

So far, the government has not confirmed nor monitored a new COVID-19 strain in the country. Celerina Monte/DMS