Gov’t Seeks To Quickly Contain Spread Of South African Strain In PH
SOUTH AFRICAN STRAIN IN PH – Recently, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed six cases of the new South African COVID-19 strain.
The DOH said that the patients positive for the new strain were from Pasay. Meanwhile, two of the patients were OFWs who returned from the Middle East. However, the other patient is still being verified.
Back In January, the World Health Organization tagged the strain as a “mutation of concern”. However, it emphasized that mutations would always be part of a virus’ cycle.
Still, due the virus being more contagious than previous variants, world leaders were still cautioned against it. Currently, the virus strain has been detected in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Furthermore, the new virus strain is said to affect the efficacy of vaccines. Additionally, research suggested that the strain was at least 50% more contagious than previous variants.
Due to the presence of the virus in the Philippines, the DOH wanted a fast containment to prevent its spread. According to an article from ABS-CBN, health secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said:
“Kaya ang gusto natin, as much as possible, fast containment tayo ng variant na ito so that we can prevent it to further spread”
Due to the virus’ presence in Pasay, the government placed 27 barangays under lockdown. As per the article, Vergeire noted:
So sa city of Pasay, 27 barangays are in barangay lockdown. Pagkatapos nagdeploy na rin po ang ating DILG ng additional personnel diyan, we also have police visibility para lang makapag-comply ang mga tao sa minimum health protocols natin
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