THE Zamboanga City government has urged its residents anew to strictly follow the prescribed health regulations and protocols to stem coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) transmission and infection.

This, as the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the presence of South African and Philippine variants of Covid-19 in Zamboanga.

Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, city health officer, reiterated that the prevailing health protocols of handwashing, wearing of masks and face shields, and physical distancing remain effective measures for the prevention of Covid-19 infections.

“These measures will work no matter what the variant is,” Miravite said.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar earlier said of the 257 samples the city health office sent for genome sequencing, 52 were found to be cases of variants of concern, of which 51 were cases of the South African variant while one case was the Philippine variant.

Salazar said out of the 52 cases of variants of concern, 37 have fully recovered while 15 have expired.

The South African variant is considered to be one of the most severe variants of the Covid-19.

Miravite said discipline will be key to curbing the variant’s spread and tamping down the rise of Covid-19 cases in this city. (SunStar Zamboanga)