ILOILO City – Local government units (LGUs) and other concerned agencies in Western Visayas must raise their guards twice as higher as the more contagious B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first detected in India already breached the Philippines.
“We should tighten our monitoring and surveillance,” said Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, medical coordinator for emerging and reemerging infectious diseases of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
LGUs must continue being strict in the enforcement of health protocols, Te said, especially on returning overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) and residents.
“We should never be complacent. Kon puede istriktuhon gid ang pag-screen sa OFWs,” she told Panay News.
Authorities should also make sure that all pre-entry requirements, especially the negative results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, are duly complied.
“Tapos bisan natapos na ang ila quarantine kon mahimu i-monitor sila gihapun kon mag-develop sang symptoms,” Te underscored.
Minimum health standards like proper wearing of facemasks, frequent hand washing and social distancing must be observed at all times, she added.
“Indi ‘ta mag-complacent maskin tuod isa lang kita balay, still naga-gwa kita… indi ‘ta kabalo sang tawo nga nasugata ‘ta so be careful gid,” Te said.
Receiving first dose of COVID-19 vaccine also does not guarantee complete protection from COVID-19 as to why “dapat kumpletuhon gid ang two doses.”
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said the county had detected the variant from two returning overseas Filipinos via genome sequencing.
The two cases have already been tagged as recovered, Vergeire said.
They also had no travel history to India.
The India COVID-19 variant was dubbed a “double mutant” due to the presence of two notable mutations in the spike protein of the virus, which are said to allow the virus to easily gain entry into the human body and multiply faster./PN
