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No WHO notice yet regarding community transmission of coronavirus variants —DOH
By JULIA MARI ORNEDO,GMA NewsThe Department of Health (DOH) has not yet received an official notice from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the community transmission of new coronavirus variants in the Philippines.
However, such transmission has already been assumed, according to DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“But of course there has been this assumption already even before dahil nakikita naman po natin na talagang tumataas ang bilang ng mga taong naa-identify natin with these variants (because we have been detecting more variant cases),” she said in an online briefing.
According to WHO, there is “some degree of community transmission”
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Community transmission means there are no longer links between COVID-19 cases carrying the new variants.
Vergeire said this pronouncement must not be a cause for fear. She also said health protocols that have been in place since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic will still be effective even against new coronavirus variants.
“Whatever variants that we have right now, whether we have community transmission or not, we still do the same response, we protect ourselves by complying with health protocols and having ourselves vaccinated,” she said.
As of May 15, the Philippines has recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases with new variants, only a handful of which remain active. —KBK, GMA News