Manila Bulletin
Duterte wants experts to lead task force vs new COVID-19 variant
President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the Department of Health and the Department of Science and Technology to form a new task force composed of health experts to address the new COVID-19 variant.
This new task force will be separate from the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
A new, more transmissible variant of COVID-19, known as B.1.1.7, has been detected in the UK, prompting the Philippines to implement travel restrictions.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III stated that the new variant appears to be 70 percent more transmissible, but there is no evidence yet that it causes more severe illness.
President Duterte stressed the importance of not being complacent and treating the new strain as a potentially deadly threat, assuming it will arrive in the Philippines.
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President Rodrigo Duterte has cut short his Christmas vacation to meet with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and infectious disease experts regarding the new, more infectious SARS-CoV-2 strain originating from the United Kingdom.
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President Rodrigo Duterte stated that the Philippines might revert to a lockdown if the new COVID-19 variant, initially found in the UK, enters and spreads within the country.
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The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is set to discuss protocols for a new and more infectious COVID-19 strain that has emerged in the United Kingdom.
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The Provincial Government of Sulu has requested assistance from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) due to the detection of a new COVID-19 variant in nearby Sabah, Malaysia.
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The Department of Health (DoH) in the Philippines has not detected a new coronavirus strain similar to the one in the UK as of December 21, 2020.
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