The Philippines may close its borders again to prevent foreigners from spreading the more transmissible Lambda coronavirus variant, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday night.
“One of the most effective methods of controlling contamination entering our shores could really be border controls,” Duterte said in his weekly meeting with Cabinet members, after reports said the new strain of COVID-19, which might be deadlier than the Delta variant, was detected in the UK.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III concurred with the President that borders should be closed if there is a breakout of the Lambda variant, which was first detected in Peru, and which has spread rapidly in South America, where it accounts for 80 percent of new cases.
But Duque also said the Philippines has been effective in preventing the entry of new variants such as the Delta variant.
While there are 19 cases of the Delta variant, these are all from Filipinos traveling home from overseas, and there is no evidence of a local case, he said.
“We have been effective in preventing the introduction of the Delta variant into households and into communities and we hope to keep it that way,” Duque said.
On Wednesday, the government’s pandemic response task force said it would look into the possible inclusion of travelers from Indonesia and Malaysia to those banned from entering the country to contain the spread of the Delta variant that was first detected in India.
Duque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases will meet on Thursday to discuss expanding the travel ban that currently covers seven countries.
“Indonesia and I think also Malaysia (may be included) because of the proximity of the said countries to the southern parts of the Philippines and the porousness of the borders,” Duque said to CNN Philippines.
The Philippines logged 4,289 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 1,450,110.
There were 164 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 25,459.
The DOH also reported 6,399 persons who recently recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 1,377,132.
Active cases dropped to 47,519, the lowest since May 26.
In March and April, the Philippines closed its borders and implemented strict quarantine measures to stop the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.
During a briefing for the President, Duque said the Beta variant of the coronavirus first detected in South Africa is the most common found in the Philippines, accounting for 21.11 percent of all cases nationwide.
This was followed by the Alpha variant (United Kingdom lineage) which accounts for 18.53 percent of cases nationwide, Duque said.
The detection of variants of concern in the provinces of Bohol and Negros Oriental “may explain sudden case increases in these areas,” a DOH report presented during the briefing said.
Several areas in the Visayas and Mindanao have seen a surge in the number of cases, but the Health Department said several factors contribute to this, including complacency in observing health protocols.
Duque also said it is possible that the variants can create a new wave of infection, but increased mobility and poor compliance with minimum health standards can also cause spikes in cases.
“We have to really implement our (Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate) strategy plus vaccination to be able to keep our cases down and manage them while we are safely opening up the economy,” Duque said.
The independent OCTA Research Group warned on Wednesday that the Delta variant’s threat to the Philippines is “so great” that it may result in another lockdown and tax the country’s supply of oxygen.
The Delta variant is twice more infectious than the Alpha variant first reported in the UK, which is a COVID-19 mutation that is 60 percent more contagious than the virus’ original strain, authorities said earlier.
If a person who carries the Delta variant returns home, “it is absolutely certain that person will infect everyone in the house,” OCTA Research fellow Nicanor Austriaco, a molecular biologist, said.
In an interview on ANC Headstart, he said the threat could have devastating effects on the country’s health system and called on Filipinos to sacrifice.
“Keep in mind that Australia had one of the strictest quarantines and the Delta variant sneaked through that 14-day mandatory quarantine,” Austriaco said.
The Philippines has so far reported 19 cases of the Delta variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
India, where the Delta variant was first reported, had suffered from a lack of oxygen supply and recorded thousands of deaths.
The Delta variant also “appears to affect children at higher numbers,” Austriaco said.
The 10-day quarantine for fully-vaccinated travelers entering the country is “99.9 percent effective,” he said.
“One of the big question marks with quarantines is that different vaccines may have different effects on transmissibility,” he said.
“There’s effective immunity where I do not get sick versus sterilizing immunity, [where] I don’t get sick and I cannot give it to you,” he said.
For some vaccines, there is no available data on their effects on transmissibility, Austriaco added.
In separate interviews, OCTA fellows Ranjit Rye and Austriaco said the DOH was pertaining to the health care system and not to people when it said the Philippines was at “low risk” for COVID-19.
“Right now, the general situation in our hospitals is good. But this doesn’t mean that we are at low-risk, as individuals,” Rye told radio dzBB.
“We will get infected with COVID-19 if we remove our masks and if we don’t follow the minimum public health standards” he said.
“What the DOH is saying is if you look at the numbers, the risk of devastating surge to our health care infrastructure is quite low,” Austriaco said in an ANC interview.
Rye also stressed that many areas in the country are still experiencing surges in COVID-19 infections.
DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea De Guzman last week said the Philippines has been classified as low-risk for COVID-19.
Based on DOH data, the Philippines’ case growth rate fell to negative 9 percent during June 13 to 26 from an earlier 15 percent on May 30 to June 12.
The national utilization rates of hospital and intensive care unit beds, on the other hand, were also in the safe zone at 46.51 percent and 55.24 percent, respectively.
But Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country’s classification as a low-risk area does not necessarily mean that
Filipinos should be complacent as the threat from the disease still persists.
Of the total number of COVID cases, 90.4 percent were mild, 4.1 percent were asymptomatic, 1.6 percent were critical, 2.3 percent were severe, and 1.68 percent were moderate.
The DOH also reported, nationwide, 57 percent of the ICU beds, 47 percent of the isolation beds, 42 percent of the ward beds, and 36 percent of the ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 45 percent of the ICU beds, 37 percent of the isolation beds, 33 percent of the ward beds, and 33 percent of the ventilators, were in use.