Watch more in iWantTFC MANILA—The coronavirus variant spotted in India that's sweeping the South Asian nation could spread more easily, an infectious disease specialist warned Wednesday.
The Philippines on Tuesday confirmed its first 2 cases of the variant, named B.1.617, from 2 Filipino seafarers who returned in April. Lim, who is part of the technical working group that advises the Department of Health, also said the variant had been called "double mutant" because of the presence of 2 notable mutations in the spike protein of the virus.
The first notable mutation, E484Q, which is similar to E484K has been dubbed an "escape mutation" as it helps the virus get past the body's immune system."What we're hoping really is to prevent further spread because you can imagine if you have several different variants going around then it's entirely possible that more will arise and cause even more problems," Lim said.