ILOILO – Authorities are bracing for a new strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is believed to be driving increased transmission of the disease in the United Kingdom (UK) and 18 other countries.
In this province, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. plans to tighten safety health protocols imposed for returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) to prevent the entry of the fast-spreading strain called VUI 202012/01.
Yesterday, he summoned members of the provincial government’s Civil Defense Cluster and they discussed preparations on how to prevent transmission of the mutated virus, which British scientists said is more transmissible than the previous one.
“We have to monitor kon sin-o ang nagasulod diri sa aton,” said Defensor.
He will ask concerned agencies like the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to provide a comprehensive data of ROFs arriving in the province.
“Mangayo anay kita data kon sin-o sa mga ROFs naton ang halin sa mga amo na nga countries and we will monitor them,” Defensor said.
In Iloilo City, the local government unit deployed a total of 14 personnel at the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo to swab arriving ROFs, locally stranded residents and authorized persons outside of residence.
Six of them were medical technologists and eight were personnel of the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO), said Jeck Conlu, the city’s COVID Team spokesperson.
According to Conlu, arriving city residents will be documented prior the swabbing, which is free of charge.
The results of their reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests will be released within 24 to 48 hours.
“This is to ensure that results will be released at the earliest date possible and to secure the safety of everybody,” said Conlu.
As of yesterday, 60 Ilonggo repatriates have already been tested.
NEW COVID STRAIN
The new COVID-19 variant VUI 202012/01 was first detected in the UK earlier this month.
Other countries that have confirmed cases of the new COVID-19 variant include Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, and France.
Health secretary Francisco Duque III said there is no similarity in the mutation of the local samples of positive cases with new SARS-CoV-2 with the variant found in the UK.
According to Duque, based on the Philippine Genome Center’s genome sequencing, the isolates in the country are not closely-related with the variants found in the UK.
So far, more than 40 countries have imposed temporary travel restrictions on travelers from the UK, including the Philippines./PN
