New blockages ‘not sustainable’ if new strain of COVID is found in PH, experts say

MANILA – Medical experts did not recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday another set of lockdowns and travel restrictions in the Philippines in the event that the allegedly more contagious COVID-19 variant entered the country.

Dr. Marissa Alejandria, a member of the country’s COVID-19 technical advisory group, said that while the mutated COVID-19 variant was easily transmissible, the mode of transmission would still be the same.

“We would like to clarify that the mode of transmission will be the same: respiratory droplets. This virus we wait for mutations. Imposing confinement or travel restrictions will not be sustainable in the long term, ”said Alejandria during Duterte’s press conference focused on the COVID-19 variant.

He added that the mutated form of the virus is not “more virulent” or something that can cause serious symptoms, citing research.

“This virus, the variant, there is no evidence this time or this data to show that it causes the most severe or most virulent form. Transmission is faster but does not cause a more serious illness that will lead to the critical form of illness or more hospitalizations. So far it has not been seen, but the transmission is faster, ”he said.

(Transmission is faster, but it does not cause a more serious illness that will lead to critical illness, hospitalizations.)

The recommendations from Alejandria and the doctors present during the televised briefing contradicted the suggestions of the government task force, which pushed for more severe measures, including, if the situation warranted, a shutdown.

Meanwhile, Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert at Philippine General Hospital, said this was not the first time the country would come across a new variant of COVID-19.

Compared to previous months when the Philippines was handling the outbreak, Salvana said the government was now more equipped to handle coronavirus patients.

“One thing that has to be clear, this is not the first time that we have seen a variant that reaches the country. If we remember in June when we had an increase in cases, yung D614G. It is 3 to 9 times more infectious than the original virus, ”Salvana said, noting that after a few weeks of discovery, most places in the country lowered their lockdown restrictions.

The “advanced information” on the new variant would help the government to respond better, he said.

“Sa ngayon can advance the tayo information, so we are already prepared so that we can anticipate any type of increase without resulting [in] drastic measures such as the confinement ”, he added.

Dr. Socorro Escalante, the country’s OIC representative to the World Health Organization, warned against a new set of lockdown restrictions and said ensuring public health interventions could help.

“The WHO recommendation for now is not to restrict travel, but to ensure that our public health interventions are in place and that the country is ready to mitigate any event that the transmissibility of this new strain reaches the country,” he explained. Escalante.

“In the last 9 months, the government has already put in place all the necessary public health interventions and measures, but we have already learned many lessons.”

Research from the UK said the variant has an increased transmission rate of 50 to 70 percent compared to other variants in the country.

The experts also said that while most of the mutations that have emerged in the coronavirus were harmful to the virus or had no effect in one way or another, several of the mutations in B.1.1.7 appeared to potentially affect the virus. way the virus spread.

Active surveillance, more quarantine areas

Members of Duterte’s pandemic response said the government should take proactive and aggressive measures to prevent the strain from entering the Philippines.

The Department of Health (DOH), in a statement, said that travel restrictions should be imposed on countries with confirmed local transmission of the new variant.

A local transmission indicates that the source of infection is within the reported area and did not leave said area, according to the WHO.

“The DOH also proposed, based on the recommendation of its experts, to consider travel restrictions in countries that have registered cases of the new COVID-19 variant when local community transmission has been confirmed in those countries,” the agency clarified minutes later. of the president’s instructions.

Inoculation Czar Sec. Carilto Gálvez, on the other hand, said that the Department of Foreign Relations should implement proactive measures that limit, if not totally, ban travelers, especially in the area of ​​Europe, where some countries have already reported the variant of the coronavirus .

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He added that local government units must actively monitor Filipinos entering the country.

“We should have a low-key investigation using our… PNP that there may be balikbayan from the UK where the areas are located. We need to have active surveillance, especially those who have already arrived here, ”explained Gálvez.

He also noted that there should be dedicated isolation facilities for patients infected with the new COVID-19 strain.

The Secretary of the Interior, Eduardo Año, for his part, said that the country’s borders must be closed.

“Now, there is no need for a blockade, but perhaps more on the control of international flow. If ever, probably, we do not have to declare a closure in the country, but we have to close the border if there is a situation that would occur later, “Year said.

He pointed out that it would be better if international ports were limited, so that the government could focus on those ports to monitor them.

“We must be attentive to international borders. Because of the variant, the new strain comes from the identified countries. Kung papapuntahin natin yung international ports, ma-funnel natin sila sa one or two international ports lang, ”he said.

Duterte previously said that the Sulu province has sought the government’s help to help the province monitor the tension after Sabah allegedly detected it.

But the country’s OCI representative to the World Health Organization clarified during the briefing that the strain found in Sabah was not the mutated form from the United Kingdom.