UNIMAGINABLE Where before it used to crawl with passengers at this time of the year, the departure area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport is all but empty in this photo taken three days before Christmas. The Philippines has extended its ban on flights from the United Kingdom to the middle of January next year to prevent the entry of the new COVID-19 virus variant. —LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should shut its border to all countries with known cases of the new coronavirus variant, lawmakers from the House of Representatives said on Sunday.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday approved the extension of a two-week travel ban on the United Kingdom up to mid-January to keep the variant from reaching the Philippines.
He also approved mandatory quarantine for travelers from countries where the variant had been reported, such as Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
But for some members of the House, that is not enough.
Community transmission
Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, a deputy House Speaker, said on Sunday a “travel ban from countries with known mutant coronavirus must be highly considered now.”
“We cannot afford to be laid back, again, and wait for local transmission,” Legarda tweeted, recalling how she recommended to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to impose a travel ban on China in January, but the health chief did not heed her recommendation.
She said Duque told the House then: “That is not needed. We can handle it.”
“And now we must wait for community transmission? We can ill afford that,” Legarda said.
On Saturday, Duque said the government would consider a travel ban on other countries only when local transmission of the variant occurred in those countries.
In a statement, BHW Rep. Angelica Natasha Co urged a ban on all flights from the United Kingdom, where the coronavirus variant was first reported in mid-December.
“I appeal to all airlines [that] have direct and connecting flights to and from the UK to voluntarily stop all those flights. I make this appeal for the sake of travelers and all your airline workers. Please do your part to stop the new [coronavirus] variant from spreading,” Co said.
Citing statements from UK officials, Co said the United Kingdom had recorded 1,000 fresh cases of the variant.
No plan
“That means there is already local transmission. This runs counter to the assertions of Secretary Duque. Either he is unaware of the latest developments in the UK or he lacks the ability to safeguard our people’s health,” Co said.
The Kabataan party list criticized the government for the absence of a plan to prevent the variant from spreading to the Philippines.
“With the new strain of the virus, the government should immediately act and have a scientific plan to prevent it from entering the Philippines,” the groups said in a statement on Sunday.
But the government, it said, has chosen “to become passive once again” and “wait for community transmission before acting.”
Kabataan said the government’s decision was “not only illogical, but also incredibly dangerous” to the people.
“Why wait for community transmission when you can act now and prevent [the variant] from entering the Philippines?” the group said.
President Duterte approved biosurveillance and border control plans to keep the variant out. He also stressed the importance of intensified local surveillance, warning mayors and barangay officials that they would be sanctioned if there were lapses on their part in preventing the spread of the virus.
“The ones really [in charge] there are the mayors and barangay captains. So make it an obligation for them to really strictly follow also the whatever direction that we take in this fight against COVID,” Mr. Duterte said at Saturday’s meeting, addressing Interior Secretary Eduardo Año.
The President said the government, even though there was no recorded case of the variant in the Philippines yet, must be prepared by tightening border control, surveillance, and improving the monitoring of cases in other countries.
Surveillance is key
“The key here is surveillance. [That’s] the only way we can be prepared—not avoid. We cannot avoid it but [we must] be prepared to confront the new virus if we know in advance how it will progress in coming into our country,” Mr. Duterte said.
On Sunday, authorities in Sulu and Basilan provinces tightened border control following a report that the variant had reached Sabah, Malaysia.
The report prompted Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan to request a maritime blockade in Jolo, as Sabah is just 29 hours away by boat.
President Duterte suggested the formation of a panel dedicated to the coronavirus variant.
“I would suggest that we create a panel … whose job could be only to observe the different progression and the identification of the new strain,” he said.
The Philippines has seen a spike in coronavirus infections since the start of the holiday season rush in mid-December.
On Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) logged 883 additional infections, raising the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country to 469,886.
The DOH reported that 7,635 more patients had recovered, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 438,618. But the death toll rose to 9,109 with the deaths of 42 more patients.
The deaths and recoveries left the country with 22,099 active cases, of which 80.2 percent were mild, 9.9 percent asymptomatic, 0.43 moderate, 3.2 percent severe, and 6.2 percent critical.
Don’t wait for local transmissions
San Jose Del Monte City Rep. Florida “Rida” P. Robes appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force on New and Emerging Diseases to recommend the imposition of travel ban on countries with the new variant of COVID-19.
In a statement, Robes said the country need not wait for local transmission in the affected countries before it imposes travel restrictions because it may be too late by then to control its entry in our country.
“I also appeal to our IATF to recommend travel ban on countries with cases of the new COVID-19 variant which is known to be more contagious. We need to implement all measures to prevent it from coming into our shores because it will definitely be more difficult to control it when it enters our country,” Robes said.
She said while she recognizes that travel ban would affect efforts to jumpstart our economy, “the health of the people is and should always be of primordial concern.” “It is better to err on the side of the caution. Let us ensure that we have implemented all necessary measures to protect the lives of our countrymen,” she added.
She also expressed support to President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to recall his earlier approval of the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in low-risk areas, originally scheduled in January 2021 in view of the new strain of COVID-19. —REPORTS FROM NESTOR CORRALES, JEROME ANING, JULIE ALIPALA AND DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN