By Alec Go
President Rodrigo Duterte said in his July 19 public address that the country may return to “stricter measures” in case of Delta variant spread in the country.
He said the detection of 16 Delta variant cases last July 16, including 11 tagged as local cases, should put the country in “grave concern” due to the variant’s more aggressive and fatal nature.
“We may need to reimpose stricter restrictions to avoid mass gatherings and prevent superspreader events… Kung sakali man it will spread — I hope it will not — then we’ll have to go again to stricter measures,” he said.
“I hope that our existing infrastructure in dealing with the problem of COVID-19 can cope up, depende kung the vaccines for COVID-19 can be as effective in dealing with the virus Delta,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) said Monday that Delta variant fatalities in the country have increased to three. Health Sec. Francisco Duque III said the majority of Delta variant cases are imported, and added that the most common variant in the country is the Beta variant.
Read more: Philippines’ Delta variant death toll now at 3
The DOH said it continues to monitor cases and other health indicators in response to the variant. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairperson Benhur Abalos said the National Capital Region is also prepared in case of Delta variant transmission.
Enforcement
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Eduardo Año said the agency will issue a memorandum in the coming days on local governments’ strategies for possible local transmission.
He said they will continue to tighten border restrictions at international airports and seaports.
Duterte urged the DILG and the Philippine National Police (PNP) “to implement existing protocol with greater urgency and necessity,” adding that it is only through restrictions that the variant threat may be allayed.
“The reason why the security forces of the government are very strict is not because they want to be strict and they want to make it hard for the people to move. Rather, they are strict because they want to protect the country from a very contagious disease,” he said. – jlo
