The Philippine government is considering the possibility of temporarily restricting entry of travelers from India due to the discovery of a new COVID-19 variant that was linked to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the South Asian country.
Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire told ABS-CBN News that discussions on this matter are underway between the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“Pinag-uusapan na po namin ngayon with DFA so that we can recommend to IATF if ever we will find that cause para po talagang i-ban muna temporarily just for us to prevent further spread of disease here in the country,” Vergeire said.
“Up until now we can say that we still have not detected although we are still looking at our records, baka meron tayong nakita before,” she furthered
The health official said the B.1.617 variant was first detected in October last year.
The variant have been referred to as a “double mutant” because B.1.617 has two key mutations that have cropped up in two other infamous strains. It has spread to 18 countries already.
