By Alec Go
The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday (Nov. 27) said discussions are ongoing on a possible expansion of the list of countries covered by the travel ban amid the Omicron variant threat.
In the Nov. 27 Laging Handa briefing, Dr. Beverly Ho of the Department of Health (DOH) Health Promotion Bureau said the decision will still be based on available data from other countries.
“May ongoing po na discussion ngayon at asahan niyo na magiging — magkakaroon ng mga developments within the day or tomorrow tungkol sa possible expansion ng mga listahan,” she said.
“Even amongst the countries they are sharing their data now, so all of these will inform us in our next step kasi hindi lang naman siguro isang bansa ‘yan. We have to balance everything out,” she added.
The DOH said biosurveillance activities are being conducted, while the impact of the Omicron on vaccines has yet to be identified.
The variant initially detected in Botswana was reported to have a high number of mutations.
“Sa mga infectious disease like this, imposible naman na forever tayong magsara ng mga borders natin. Eventually talagang makakapasok siya,” she said.
“It’s not a matter of makakapasok ba siya, but it’s really a matter of when, kung later ba at mas handa na ang sistema natin,” she added, noting that the country had a later surge brought about by Delta variant due to “strict” border control.
Ho, along with other medical practitioners, said observing public health standards and getting vaccinated remain effective forms of protection against any variants.
“One thing is for sure though, kahit anong variant pa ‘yan, gumagana pa rin ang paggamit ng mask at ang ating minimum health standards… Iyong ating bakuna, most likely tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang protection against severe disease,” Dr. Edsel Salvana said in a similar briefing Friday. – bny
Watch the full interview with Dr. Ho here:
