By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Duque wants a travel ban on HK imposed immediately |
Philippine Health
Secretary Francisco Duque III has said in a TV interview Saturday that he has
recommended a ban on travelers from Hong Kong after two imported cases of the new
coronavirus variant, B.1.1529 or Omicron, were detected in the city.
Duque said in the Dobol
B News TV interview that he has sent a letter to Executive Secretary Salvador
Medialdea asking for a quick response to his request to make sure the
Omicron, which has just been declared a variant of concern by the World Health Organization,
does not enter the Philippines.
He said there is an
urgent need to impose a ban as many overseas Filipino workers traditionally go
home for Christmas.
The country’s
Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid has already approved the suspension of flights
from South Africa and Botswana and neighboring countries Eswatini, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe to prevent the mutant strain entering
the Philippines.
Hong Kong, meanwhile,
has put all of the said countries under Category A or high-risk countries,
which means only residents may enter from these places, and they have to spend
21 days in quarantine.
On Saturday, the city’s
government tightened the measures further by stipulating that from today, all
new arrivals from the eight South African countries will have to spend their first
seven days at a quarantine center, during which they will be tested every day
and their health conditions monitored.
After completing the
seven-day quarantine at the government-run facility, “they will be allowed to finish the rest of the
compulsory quarantine requirement at the designated quarantine hotel which they
have reserved,” said the statement.
“They are also required
to undergo testing on the 9th, 12th, 16th and 19th day and another compulsory
testing in a community testing centre on the 26th day of arrival at Hong Kong.”
 |
All arrivals from the 8 South African states will have to spend
their first 7 days of quarantine in a govt facility |
The
government statement said the WHO named the mutant strain Omicron after
declaring it a variant of concern.
“The
mutant strain possesses a large number of mutations and it was first reported
to the WHO from South Africa on Nov. 24” said the government.
“In addition, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and
Control, this mutant strain is the most divergent variant during the COVID-19
pandemic so far. This raises concerns that it may be associated with increased
transmissibility, reduction in vaccine effectiveness and increased risk for
reinfections.”
Apart
from the two imported cases found in HK, the Omicron variant is said to have
been detected in several other places including Botswana, South Africa, Israel
and Belgium.
The
government said it has contacted the health authorities in Israel and Belgium
for details about the imported cases there.
Further,
the government said that no new cases have been found so far among people
who stayed on the same floor of Regal Airport Hotel as the returnee from South
Africa and the man from Canada he infected.
Twelve other
guests who stayed in adjacent rooms on the same floor between Nov 11 and 14
were sent to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre but all have tested negative so far for
Covid-19.
However, the government says it has been closely monitoring the latest data on
mutant strains as well as the epidemic situation in various places and will
adjust the boarding, quarantine and testing requirements for persons arriving in
Hong Kong from high risk places as the situation warrants.
In the
meantime, surveillance at designated quarantine hotels has been stepped to
ensure compliance with infection control measures. People undergoing quarantine
are reminded that they must keep the windows in their hotel room closed and to
wear a surgical mask when they open the room door.
Meanwhile, three new
imported Covid-19 infections were reported today, involving travelers from the
United Kingdom, India and Russia. All carried the L452R mutant strain.
Two of them, a
47-year-old female resident from the UK and a 58-year-old male air crew from
Russia, tested positive on their arrival test. The third, a 72-year-old woman who
came from India via the United Arab Emirates, tested positive on her third day
of stay at Regal Airport Hotel.
