The Department of Health (DOH) said there is no monitored new strain of the virus in the country like the new strain found in the United Kingdom.
“We’ve coordinated with RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine) and according to RITM sa ngayon wala pa sila nakikitang bagong strain na meron tayo dito sa ating bansa based on their monitoring (the RITM said they have not seen any new strain in the country based on their monitoring),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during an online media forum.
“But of course we will be furthering this monitoring, kailangan natin mapaigting para kung meron man ganyan sa bansa ma-identify natin (we need to intensify our monitoring to identify it),” Vergeire added.
A total of 1,721 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines were reported Monday, pushing the nationwide case count to 461, 505, the DOH said.
Eighty-two patients were recently recovered from the disease, taking the recoveries to 429,207.
A total of 10 fatalities were also reported, bringing the death toll to 8,957.
Davao City was the top contributor of new cases with 151, followed by Quezon City with 142 cases, Rizal with 85, Laguna with 81, and Manila with 77.
Active cases are at 23,341. Of this 82.2 percent are mild cases, 8.5 percent are asymptomatic, 5.9 percent are in critical condition, 3 percent are severe cases, and 0.34 percent are moderate cases.
The department also reported that at present, 60 percent of the intensive care units (ICU) dedicated for COVID-19 are available while 65 percent of the isolation beds set for cases of the disease are unoccupied.
It added that 76 percent of the ward beds for COVID-19 patients are available and 79 percent of ventilators are unused.
The Health official stressed that the UK has already implemented travel restrictions while the country’s border is only open to diplomats and those with official businesses here in the country.
“Restriction, I don’t think that would be required at this point. Although of course we are strengthening our measures to prevent the entry of the infection here. That is why we are monitoring our ports, with testing, quarantine of all those coming in are enforced,” Vergeire said.