Malacañang on Monday said that the government had enough protocols to prevent the new and more infectious strain of the coronavirus from spreading in the Philippines.
The new strain, which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was up to 70 percent more infectious, led to tightened Covid-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom.
“Sa ngayon po, in place pa naman iyong ating mga protocols para sa lahat ng pumapasok ng Pilipinas. Kasama po diyan iyong mandatory quarantine habang hinihintay po ang resulta ng kanilang PCR tests,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a virtual presser.
Several European countries have suspended travel to and from Britain due to the emergence of the new strain.
The Philippines’ Covid-19 inter-agency task force had yet to meet to come up with a decision to close the country’s borders, Roque said.
Citing findings by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Health Undersecretary said the virus had yet to be discovered in the Philippines but the country would further its monitoring.
The country has 461,505 Covid-19 cases as of Dec. 21. John Ezekiel J. Hirro