A health expert warned that a surge of coronavirus cases may happen if the new and more infectious strain of the coronavirus disease discovered in the United Kingdom will enter the Philippines.
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the suspension of flights from the UK to the Philippines from Dec. 24, 12:01 a.m. until Dec. 31.
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The new COVID-19 strain found in the UK is different from the G614 variant which was discovered in the Philippines according to Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of the adult infectious diseases unit at San Lazaro Hospital.
Solante said that the new strain could infect more people due to its increased transmissibility.
“Ang pangamba natin ‘pag ang isang tao nahawaan ng ganitong strain mas mabilis niyang mahahawa ito sa tao rin,” said Solante as per reports from ABS-CBN News.
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He also said that closing borders help in preventing the new strain from entering the country during the holidays.
“Kung titingnan natin kung ano ang ginagawa ng ibang bansa, it’s just more of a preventive measure dahil ang impact nito you will really have a wider spread of the infection, mas mabilis especially in this time of the year na yung family and social gathering na di natin maiiwasan. There will be a higher tendency na mataas talaga ang risk na tumataas ang kaso because of this particular strain,” he said. (TDT)
