Manila Bulletin
Duterte withdraws order allowing face-to-face classes in pilot areas due to new COVID-19 strain
President Rodrigo Duterte has revoked his order allowing the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in select areas due to the new strain of COVID-19.
Duterte stated that he will not permit face-to-face classes until health experts know more about the new COVID-19 variant, identified as B.1.1.7.
The President previously allowed mid-December the pilot testing of face-to-face classes in areas considered at low risk for COVID-19.
Duterte has banned face-to-face classes in the entire country until a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available.
The government expects to start the vaccination program within the first quarter of 2021.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones confirmed that the Department of Education (DepEd) will comply with the President's directive.
Topics in this story
Explore more stories about these topics.
🤖
This story was generated by AI to help you understand the key points. For more detailed coverage, please see the news articles from trusted media outlets below.
News Sources
See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
Bishop Rex Andrew Alarcon of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Youth (CBCP-ECY) commended President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to cancel the planned dry run for face-to-face classes in January 2021.
Read more →
Vice President Leni Robredo criticized the Duterte government for initially refusing to consider her suggestion to allow face-to-face classes in low-risk areas.
Read more →
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.
+1
Read more →
The Department of Education (DepEd) has welcomed the support of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes in low-risk areas.
Read more →
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian anticipates a difficult year for the education sector in 2021 due to the continued prohibition of face-to-face classes.
Read more →