Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte has met with the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and infectious disease experts to discuss the new strain of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) that has emerged in the United Kingdom and how to keep it offshore.
Health Sec. Francisco Duque III warned that the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the southeast region and other parts of the UK is more contagious and can quickly change the predominant strain of COVID but there is no indication that its symptoms are worse and if it will affect the effectiveness of the vaccines being developed.
“Ang bagong mutation ay nakadagdag sa kakayanan ng virus na maka-infect ng human and animal cells. Current evidence suggests 70% higher transmissibility o mas mabilis na panghahawa (the new mutation has boosted the ability of the virus to infect both human and animal cells. Current evidence suggests 70% higher transmissibility or it can spread faster),” DOH Sec. Duque explained.
1,108 individuals have already been infected in England. Data from The World Health Organization (WHO) from August 28 to December 23 indicate that 12 countries in the Western Pacific Region have registered imported cases from the UK, three of which have listed cases of the new variant.
In the face of these new developments, the president has thought it best to practice prudence as the country confronts the emerging infectious disease and took back his earlier approval on the face-to-face classes on January.
Aside from taking seriously the basic health protocols, Sec. Duque relayed that “inirerekomenda ng DOH kasama ang mga eksperto ng TAG ng ating IATF at ng WHO na sa mga manggagaling sa bansang may kumpirmadong new variant, gawing mandatory ang pagtapos ng 14-day quarantine sa New Clark City (It was recommended by the DOH together with experts of the IATF TAG and WHO that those who come from countries with confirmed new variant should go on mandatory 14-day requirement at the New Clark City.”
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Guevarra added the implementation of an “advance passenger information system immediately.”
Dr. Socorro Escalante of the World Health Organization relayed that “the WHO recommendation for now is not to restrict travel, but to ensure that our public health interventions are in place and that the country is ready to mitigate any event that the transmissibility of this new strain will come into the country.”
The Chief Executive considered that “lockdown is a possibility. I said we are making some projections, but if the severity in numbers would demand that we take corrective measures immediately, then we’ll just have to go back to the lockdown.”
However Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año pointed out that “right now, there’s no necessity to call for a lockdown… Our situation is manageable if we are just talking on the local COVID situation, but we have to watch out the international borders.”
In case the disease slips through all the health protocol and security cordons, Sec. Duque reassured that the mechanisms, systems, policies are already all in place. – PTV News Online
