Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) – Experts may take into account the presence of the India COVID-19 variant when they make their recommendation for succeeding quarantine levels.
“We are strengthening or tightening our restrictions right now because we would like to prevent further spread of these kinds of variants,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
“If in a specific place we can see there is increasing number of cases and there is this specific variant of concern, then that’s part of the factors that we will be considering,” she added, referring to the B.1617 variant from India.
The Greater Manila area’s current status – modified enhanced community quarantine – ends on Friday. Several mayors favor shifting to general community quarantine by May 15.
Vergeire, who leads the COVID-19 variant task force, added they are studying the impact of the B.1617 variant to help them decide if the entry ban on travelers from India and other South Asian nations must be extended.
The Philippines previously imposed a 14-day entry ban on inbound passengers who traveled to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. However, the Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed two cases of the B.1617 variant – returning Filipinos who did not have any travel history from these countries. The two Filipino seafarers arrived in the Philippines from Oman and the United Arab Emirates in April.
“The virus and variant do not respect borders. We’ve seen that it’s travel that facilitates the spread of the virus. The surge is because of the high transmissibility brought about by the mutations,” said Dr. Marissa Alejandria, a member of the DOH-Technical Advisory Group.
The variant task force is set to forward its recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which will then send its recommendation to President Rodrigo Duterte, who will make the final decision.
