DOH: Cross-country transmission of UK COVID variant basis for travel ban

The Department of Health said Sunday that cross-border transmissions of the new COVID-19 variant from the UK will be its basis in recommending travel ban from countries reporting such infections.

In a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the department is monitoring the situation in these countries.

“Ang tunay po naming rekumendasyon ay kino-consider po natin ang ban para sa areas o bansa na may naiulat na community transmission dahil sa bagong variant,” she said.

“Ang mga bansa na may recorded cases na ng UK new variant ay kasalukuyang na po nating mino-monitor. Ang pagkumpirma ng community transmission sa mga lugar na ito ay ating itinakda na pamantayan upang ma-impose natin ‘yung travel ban,” she said.

On Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the extension of the travel ban from the United Kingdom, including those that transited from the UK, for another two weeks because of the new variant.

The UK travel ban started on December 24, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. and was initially set to end on December 31, 2020.

According to Dr. Edsel Salvana of DOH's Technical Advisory Group (TAG), some countries with reported COVID-19 cases due to the new variant immediately detected the infection at their borders.

“For instance, Singapore, na napaka-stringent noong kanilang screening. Nade-detect nila agad doon pa lang sa border so actually,” he said.

Thus, Salvana pointed out that the total travel ban from Singapore is not needed.

“As long as wala doon sa community, na-control nila 'yung pagpasok noong variant na 'yun sa kanilang bansa kaya hindi naman siguro kinakailangan pang sobrang i-lockdown natin,” he said.

“It looks like they're doing their part. Sila rin nag-restrict ng entry sa UK,” he added.

DOH-TAG’s Dr. Anna Ong-Lim said the decision of the government also considered the economic impact of shutting down the Philippines from these countries.

“I think the goal is actually, try to strike a balance between making sure while we are addressing the concern about transmission into our country versus undue impact that travel restrictions might pose,” she said. —LBG, GMA News