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President Rodrigo Duterte will meet with the government’s COVID-19 task force and infectious disease experts on Saturday to address the new strain of coronavirus that emerged in the UK, Malacañang said on Friday.
Duterte spokesman Harry Roque said the meeting will be held at the Malacañang Golf Club House.
He said the government could decide whether to extend the UK travel ban or add more countries to the list after Singapore and Denmark confirmed cases of the new strain found in the UK.
In a separate message, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said the president would interrupt his Christmas vacation in Davao city to focus on the government’s response to the new variant of COVID-19, which is said to be more contagious.
“The president and I are very concerned,” he said.
On Tuesday, Duterte ordered the suspension of all flights from the UK from December 24 to December 31 following the recommendation of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
All passengers who have been to the UK in the past 14 days and even transit travelers are temporarily restricted from entering the Philippines.
The Philippines also ordered people coming from the UK, provided they arrive before December 24, to undergo a 14-day quarantine at the Athlete’s Village in New Clark City, regardless of the results of the RT-PCR test.
More than 50 countries have suspended flights from Britain in a bid to contain the new strain of the coronavirus.
The Health Department said it has not yet monitored the new strain in the Philippines.
Roque said the new strain probably won’t push the government to reimpose strict closures.
“I don’t think so because we are really taking care of people to have a job,” he said.
“If it’s really more contagious, we really need to implement our prevention, hand washing and mask use techniques.” – RSJ, GMA News
