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Video courtesy of Kapihan sa Manila Bay
MANILA – The Health Department said on Wednesday that UK travelers arriving before the travel ban takes effect in the country on Christmas Eve would have to quarantine in New Clark City in Tarlac even if they get a negative COVID-19 test result. At the arrived.
This, after the government said Wednesday morning that it would ban flights from the UK from December 24 to December 31 for fear of a potentially more potent new strain of coronavirus, an announcement made less than 24 hours before it was due. cash.
“We will only allow the entry of passengers who are already in transit to the country, as long as they arrive before 12:01 AM on December 24, 2020, and that they are required to pass the 14-day quarantine in Athlete’s Village in New Clark City, regardless of the results of the RT-PCR test, ”said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III during a virtual forum in Kapihan sa Manila Bay.
Duque said initial analysis by the Philippine Genome Center at the University of the Philippines showed that the UK variant has yet to be detected in the Philippines.
However, “given the anticipated increase this holiday season, we cannot afford another factor that could affect the transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2,” he said.
“We have witnessed what an increase in cases means to us: the extensive lockdowns and how it has affected our families, our healthcare workers, small businesses and large businesses alike. We don’t want that to happen again, “he added.
The quarantine site at Tarlac was previously used to house athletes who participated in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. It was converted into a quarantine facility at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for Filipinos returning from high-rise areas. risk.
Duque said the 14-day quarantine in the city of New Clark, regardless of the COVID-19 test result, is a precautionary measure.
“At first we didn’t know or weren’t sure about the new strain,” he said. “Your test can also give a false negative if you take a swab a little earlier.”
(First of all, we don’t know much about this new strain … the test can also be a false negative if the swab was done early.)
The DOH had previously explained that the COVID-19 virus has an incubation period of 2 to 14 days. If a person is tested before the incubation period, the viral load may not be enough to be detected.
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