A member of the Department of Health's Technical Advisory Group said there is a need to keep out the Delta coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variant as it is very dangerous.
"We need to keep out the Delta variant which is very dangerous," Dr. Edsel Salvana said in a meeting with President Duterte Monday, June 21.
"This will really be a big disaster if we do not keep it out of the country," he added.
"We still don't have community transmission of Gama and Delta and we really want to keep it that way that's why stringent protocols are important," said Salvana.
He said there is really a need to police our borders as it only takes one variant to get in and this might result to an India like surge in cases.
"The number of people that a person with Delta variant can infect is really high," Salvana said.
He also explained the rationale behind the 10 plus 4 strategy on quarantine.
"It's really designed to protect our country against any COVID that is coming from abroad because it takes about 14 days for COVID to show itself," said Salvana.
At present, he said, there are already 17 cases of Delta in the country all from incoming travelers.
"The protocols that you have approved have caught all of them. So we have to continue and make sure that this is implemented nationwide...implement the strict protocols in all our borders," said Salvana.
He said TAG also still recommends the wearing of faceshields even outdoors.
"The Delta variant is 40 percent more infectious outdoors, 60 percent more infectious indoors. So it would be nice to have an extra layer of security," Salvana said.
Even Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo also stressed the importance of keeping the variants out.
"We want to stress we should stop its entry here in the Philippines," he said.
"We should all get vaccinated with the vaccines that are available now because this will still protect us and will help us stop the spread even if it comes in," Domingo added.