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DOH orders 'thorough screening' of arrivals from countries with COVID 'FLiRT' cases

Article (news)

Arra Perez

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Quarantine stations at the Philippines’ entry points will be &quot;thoroughly&quot; screening visitors from countries that have logged incidences of COVID FLiRT variants, the Department of Health said Monday.The DOH confirmed the issuance of the Bureau of Quarantine&#x27;s (BOQ) Bureau Memorandum No. 2024-48 dated May 24, wherein &quot;all stations have been directed to conduct thorough screening at Points of Entry for arriving visitors originating from countries where COVID FLiRT incidents have been detected&quot;.In a Viber message to reporters, the DOH said this is upon orders from Health Secretary Ted Herbosa.&quot;We appreciate the public&#x27;s heightened interest in BOQ operations to protect our population — as you can see, DOH delivers,&quot; the agency said.&quot;To avoid possible misinformation and fake news, please get announcements only from the verified DOH social media channels, or mainstream media. There is no need to forward internal documents,&quot; it added.<div>PUBLIC REMINDED TO TAKE BASIC HEALTH PRECAUTIONS</div>Under the new BOQ memo, the public is reminded to &quot;take basic health measures such as frequent hand washing, coughing etiquette, avoiding crowded situations and getting in contact with people with flu like symptoms.&quot; &quot;All travelers must be reminded to complete the health questionnaire available on the e-travel application,&quot; it said. &quot;For those who develop Signs and Symptoms of COVID-19, Home Isolation is advised. For any concern, please contact DOH at (02) 8651-7800 or 894-COVID,&quot; it added.<div>&#x27;SMALL INCREASE&#x27; IN COVID CASES </div>The DOH said last week it has observed a &quot;small increase&quot; in COVID-19 cases — although DOH spokesperson Albert Domingo explained they are not &quot;alarmed&quot; but &quot;on alert&quot;.&quot;While there is an observed increase recently, it is small and lower than previously observed increases,&quot; the agency said in a statement.Data from the DOH show there were 877 new COVID cases from May 7 to 13, with an average of 125 cases reported daily. &quot;Out of the new cases reported, 7 had severe or critical disease. Five (5) deaths were recorded, which occurred in the recent 2 weeks (April 30 to May 13),&quot; the agency said, adding there is low occupancy of Non-ICU COVID beds in the country&#x27;s hospitals.Herbosa said in a May 22 Palace briefing that the government is not considering border controls and mask mandates.&quot;But I am advising every Filipino, since that’s happening... iyong minimum public health standards. If you are sick, you have colds, sore throat, it’s better to stay home. If you need to go out, wear a mask.&quot;COVID is a respiratory illness, and is already being considered endemic by some doctors. But recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released variants under monitoring (VUM), including KP.2 and KP.3, which were dubbed by researchers as &quot;FLiRT&quot; variants to describe the amino acid changes in the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus.Herbosa shared that FLiRT variants appear to be highly contagious but also said it may be &quot;nothing to worry about&quot; since &quot;it does not kill.&quot;<div>COVID VACCINES </div>In a May 24 interview with ABS-CBN News, DOH Assistant Secretary Domingo said the COVID-19 shots — including the primary series and boosters — most Filipinos received still provide &quot;residual immunity&quot; but that this must be boosted.&quot;Kailangan na nating magkaroon noong mga bagong bakuna,&quot; he said.(We need to get the new vaccines.)The Department of Health has yet to determine who would get the new vaccines if the Philippines buys them, with Domingo adding buying them in large quantities would mean a huge cost to government.&quot;And saan natin kukunin iyon? Sinong babawasan natin: si tusperina, si tigdas, si tuberculosis? So we have to make that decision. And also another option is baka naman hindi lahat kailangang bigyan. Baka iyong high risk lang. But what&#x27;s important is iyong mga bagong bakuna maipasok na natin sa Pilipinas,&quot; he added.(And where will we get that money? Who will we cut funding from: pertussis, measles, tuberculosis? So we have to make that decision. Another option is that maybe not everyone needs to be vaccinated, perhaps only those at high risk. But what&#x27;s important is that we get the new vaccines into the Philippines.)Domingo shared this can be possible through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where manufacturers can apply for Certificate of Production Registration (CPR). Should this happen, both the public and private sectors can have access to the new vaccines.

Under the new BOQ memo, the public is also reminded to "take basic health measures such as frequent hand washing, coughing etiquette, avoiding crowded situations and getting in contact with people with flu like symptoms."

Under the new BOQ memo, the public is also reminded to "take basic health measures such as frequent hand washing, coughing etiquette, avoiding crowded situations and getting in contact with people with flu like symptoms."