Philippines confirms 18 more UK variant cases

MANILA: Eighteen more cases of the UK variant have been confirmed in the Philippines even as the government appeared bent on a further relaxation of the restrictions against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to help revive the economy.

In an official statement, the Department of Health (DOH) said with the new discovery, this brought the total of confirmed UK variant cases to 62, with 13 atributed to overseas Filipino workers ( OFWS) who returned to the country between Jan.3 and 21.

The other five came from the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Northern Luzon highlands, the DOH said, adding that all the 18 were reported to have recovered from the variant.

This developed as the independent OCTA research group noted a slight rise in the COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, officially known as the National Capital Region (NCR) composed of 16 cities and one town with a population of more than 12 million.

“The overall trend in the Philippines and the NCR is flat (that is) no significant upward or downward movement,” reported OCTA, an independent group composed of experts from the state-owned University of the Philippines.

However, OCTA warned it could not rule out the possibility of an upsurge of cases in the NCR, considered a COVID “hot spot,” due to the celebration of the Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day in February.

It cited, for instance, a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the suburban cities of Pasay, Malabon and Navotas and slight increases in the cities of Manila and Marikina, all in Metro Manila.

OPTA and other experts including those from the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier warned the government against large-scale easing of COVID-19 restrictions by imposing the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) or lockdown nationwide even before it could start is vaccination programme.

Karl Hendrick Chua, the socioeconomic planning secretary, earlier urged President Duterte to impose the MGCQ nationwide that would allow the reopening the more businesses like cinemas, tourist spots like theme parks and the like to perk up the economy ravaged by the pandemic.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire joined Chua and other officials in their support, saying that a year of strict lockdown, there was the urgent need to consider the economy which was brought to a standstill by the quarantine early in 2020.

“There are also health consequences for a poor economy which is why we are balancing that,” Vergeire told an online media forum.