President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday revoked his order to carry out the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in January 2021 following the discovery of a new, more virulent strain of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.
The Department of Education had planned a dry run for schools in areas with low risk of COVID-19 transmission, but Duterte ordered Education Secretary Leonor Briones to suspend it.
"I'm calling back the order," the President said in a public briefing. "I will not allow face-to-face classes of children until we are through with this . . . The nature of the germ we are confronting."
Duterte said the government could be putting students in danger if they let them go to class.
"I am cancelling the order I gave few days ago, a few weeks ago to Sec. Briones of the Education Department to suspend everything, all activities of children especially face-to-face classes," he said.
Dr. Tony Leachon, a public health advocate and former member of the national COVID-19 mitigation task force, previously said the new strain has forced governments to enforce travel restrictions in and out of the United Kingdom, including the Philippines.
"Iyan ay variant B117. Bago siyang strain na 52% ang admittance sa UK. At highly transmissible, 50-70%, so ibig sabihin more contagious. Nag-cause ng travel ban sa Europe, Canada, sa HK, sa atin dito," Leachon said in an interview on Teleradyo.
"Kakaiba ang profile ng mga pasyente nito. Less than 60, asymptomatic, sila yung gala ng gala. So, mas madaling makahawa ngayon. Mas maraming mahahawa, that will lead to more hospitalizaton and admission and therefore, madadali ngayon ang vulnerable segment and will actually cause more deaths," he said.