Lockdown due to 'Cicada' COVID-19 variant false, says DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday refuted claims of an emergency lockdown due to the "Cicada" COVID-19 variant.

"Binibigyang-diin ng Department of Health na walang katotohanan ang kumakalat na balitang may emergency lockdown sa bansa dahil sa COVID-19 Cicada variant," the DOH said in an advisory.

(The Department of Health emphasizes that there is no truth to the information circulating about an emergency lockdown in the country due to the COVID-19 Cicada variant.)

“Walang dahilan para mabahala o mag-lockdown. Naunana nang inihayag ng ahensya nitong March 31, 2026, na nananatiling ligtas ang Pilipinas sa variant na ito,” the DOH said.

(There is no reason to worry or go into lockdown. The agency had already said on March 31, 2026, that the Philippines remains safe from this variant.)

The department advised the public to avoid spreading fake news and to only trust official sources.

Earlier, the DOH said that no infections due to the Cicada strain had been reported in the country.

First detected in South Africa in November 2024, the Cicada strain (BA.3.2) comes from the Omicron lineage of the virus that causes the respiratory disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. 

The WHO classified BA.3.2, which has been found in 23 countries so far, as a COVID variant under monitoring. 

"Until and unless the WHO and other international health bodies sound an alarm, there is no cause for concern. Standard precautions and infection control and prevention measures have always been in place,” DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Albert Domingo said last week.

“The DOH is more focused now on illnesses related to the hot and dry season, as well as contingency planning for the national health system in view of the state of a national energy emergency,” he added. —VBL, GMA News