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TWO days after saying that it was not necessary to ban inbound travel from the United Kingdom, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III defended on Wednesday 23 December 2020 the recommendation of the Inter-institutional Working Group on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID ). suspend all flights from the UK until the end of the month.
In a virtual media forum, Duque said the travel restriction is necessary as a precaution against the newly detected variant of Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“We don’t know or are unsure regarding this new strain of Covid-19 from the UK, so it’s best if we’re careful,” Duque said.
He said the same policy is being adopted regarding those who will be subjected to the 14-day quarantine period at the Athlete’s Village in New Clark City.
“Let’s complete the quarantine period so that, at the very least, we can be sure that it will not escape from where it will be quarantined, and in this case, Clark,” Duque said.
So far, the Health chief said they have not received any reports that the new strain is present in the Philippines.
“We don’t have it here yet. Hopefully we don’t,” he said.
Duque said the Philippine Genome Center is still evaluating the different Sars-CoV-2 strains in the country.
Last week, UK health authorities said they had identified a new variant of the virus that is spreading rapidly in Britain.
On Monday, the DOH said there was no evidence the new strain is already in the country and that there was no need yet to issue stricter travel restrictions for the UK.
But on Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the IATF recommendation to suspend inbound travel from the UK from December 24-31.
All passengers coming to or transiting the UK, including those with travel history to the UK within 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines, are temporarily restricted from entering the country.
Passengers coming from or with travel history from the United Kingdom, who are already in transit to the country, provided they arrive before 12:01 am on December 24, will not be subject to the restriction, but must pass 14 Quarantine days at Athlete’s Village in New Clark City, regardless of Covid-19 test results. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)
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