Aside from the travel restriction on the United Kingdom, a temporary travel ban is also being eyed on other countries with local community transmission of the new coronavirus variant, the Department of Health (DoH) said Sunday.
“Kinokonsider po natin ang ban para sa mga areas o bansa kung saan na may naulat na ng community transmission na mga kaso hango sa new variant (We are considering (to impose) a ban for areas or countries where there is a reported community transmission of the new (coronavirus) variant),” said DoH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing.
Vergeire assured that they are monitoring the situation in other countries that have documented a case of the new variant.
“Ang mga areas o bansang may recorded cases ng UK variant ay kasalukuyan na po nating minomonitor. Ang pagkumpirma ng community transmission sa mga lugar na ito ay ating itinakdang pamantayan upang ma-impose natin yung travel ban (Areas or countries with recorded cases of the UK variant are currently being monitored. The confirmation of community transmission in these areas is our standard in imposing a travel ban),” she noted.
Some of the countries that have recorded a case of the new coronavirus variant are Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, and Japan.
Vergeire said that “there are a lot of implications when you do restrictions or a travel ban. So, we need to study it very carefully.”
Dr. Socorro Escalante, coordinator for the World Health Organization Western Pacific, agreed with Vergeire.
“Alam natin (We know) that the border restriction will have significant economic and humanitarian impact and therefore, if we are going to decide this very restrictive intervention, we really need to consider all dimensions,” she said.
The new coronavirus variant was first discovered in the United Kingdom. This variant was reported to be more transmissible.
“Current evidence suggests 70 percent higher transmissibility o mas mabilis na panghahawa nito (or faster transmission),” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
“Ngunit wala pa pong indikasyon na ang virus na ito ay nagdudulot nang mas malubhang karamdaman at maaapektuhan nito ang pagtalab ng bagong bakuna kontra COVID (But there is no indication that this virus is causing more serious illness and whether it will affect the efficacy of vaccines against COVID),” he added.
The virus that causes COVID-19 still spreads primarily through respiratory droplets, said Dr. Marissa Alejandria of the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID).
“’Yung mode of transmission ng ating virus ay hindi naman nagbago. Ang main driver of transmission pa rin po ‘yung respiratory droplets...Kaya ini-emphasized pa rin natin ‘yung minimum health standards: Air circulation, physical distancing, wearing of mask and face shield (The mode of transmission of the virus has not changed. The main driver of transmission is still the respiratory droplets... So we still emphasized our minimum health standards: Air circulation, physical distancing, wearing of mask and face shield),” said Alejandria.
“Ayun pa rin ang paraan para maiwasan ang sakit. Kahit na nag-mutate ang virus ang mode of transmission pareho pa rin, so, pareho pa rin yung mga pag-iingat na kailangan natin gawin (The ways to prevent the disease remain the same. Even if the virus mutates, the mode of transmission is still the same, so, the precautions we need to take are still the same),” she added.