The Department of Health (DOH) has explained why the 14-day quarantine period must be completed despite testing negative for RT-PCR test for those arriving before the imposition of the temporary United Kingdom travel ban on December 24.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III explained that it would be better to be more cautious, considering that there is more to learn about the new strain of virus named B117.
The health department is also not ruling out the possibility of having false positive or false negative results if an individual is tested early, and that viral load might even rise eventually.
The new strain discovered in the UK has not yet been discovered in the Philippines based on the initial analysis of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).
The DOH is confident that the PGC will provide information on the characteristics of the new strain.
Meanwhile, the DOH assured it will strictly monitor the situation of the country and the IATF-EID will meet anew before the end of the travel ban on December 31. – Report from Mark Fetalco
