HEALTH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire yesterday said back tracing efforts of the Department of Health (DOH) for eight travelers from South Africa who recently arrived in the country have hit a snag due to inadequate information provided by the passengers.
Vergeire said that “the contact details they provided to us in their personal information sheets are inaccurate.”
In particular, Vergeire said six of the travelers provided incomplete contact numbers and addresses, while the other two have refused to accept their phone calls.
The health official said they have already sought the assistance of different government agencies and local government units in a bid to find the travelers.
On Monday, the DOH said that of the 253 travelers from South Africa, only 80 have so far been contacted. The other 165 are having their contact status undergo verification, while the remaining eight remain unlocated.
The government has been keen on locating the eight travelers as part of its efforts to stop the entry of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country. The new variant is said to have originated from South Africa. The variant has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a variant of concern and has been found in at least 38 countries.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has included South Africa and 13 other countries in the country’s Red List and banned the entry of travelers from such countries.
The travelers, however, arrived in the country shortly before the travel ban was imposed.
And while authorities scramble to locate the travelers, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there is no reason for the public to be alarmed over the Omicron variant because it causes only mild illness to people based on WHO’s initial assessment.
“In my meetings with WHO Country Representative Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, he related that current data shows that it only causes mild symptoms, no deaths, and no increased hospitalizations due to Omicron,” said Duque.
“It appears that Omicron is no different. It is almost saying that it’s no cause for alarm,” he added.
However, the health chief stressed that the findings are not yet final and may still change.
“We still need to wait for additional information and data for us to be able to have a better guideline in terms of recalibrating our response,” he said.
President Duterte on Monday night said the government is praying that the Omicron variant will not reach the Philippines even as he expressed confidence that the country will be able to cope in case it does.
The President, during his Talk to the People address, said the country has a good chance of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic because of the public’s continued compliance to health protocols and the government’s aggressive immunization campaign.
Duterte also said he is very happy that COVID cases in the country have been going down even as other countries are now seeing resurges, especially due to Omicron.
“I’ve always invoked the intervention of God to pull us out of this misery. Christmas na. I hope that everything will be for the good of everybody (I’ve always invoked the intervention of God to pull us out of this misery. It’s already Christmas. I hope that everything will be for the good of everybody),” Duterte said.
Duque said it would still be best if the public will continue to observe the minimum public health standards (MPHS), as well as get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Whether it is Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or even Omicron, we can overcome them if we strictly observe the MPHS and get vaccinated,” said Duque.
NIKKEI ASIA
Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles welcomed the country’s improved ranking in the 2021 Nikkei Asia COVID-19 Recovery Index from 103rd in October 2021 to 57th place in November.
Nograles said it is a clear indication that the country has successfully contained the highly transmissible Delta variant and had even fared better than more countries such as Australia, United States, Thailand, Russia, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, and Vietnam.
He reiterated that the previous rankings of the Philippines stemmed from the conduct of the surveys during the spike of COVID-19 cases in the country brought about by the Delta variant.
Nograles said that despite the improved rankings, the public should continue to comply with minimum health protocols and be vaccinated.
Father Nicanor Austriaco, an OCTA Research fellow, reported to President Duterte on Monday night that the country has successfully brought down the active COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates.
The President, during the event, teased Father Austriaco that he can replace Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, which the priest declined.
Austriaco, who is currently in the United States working with his team on a possible vaccine to benefit the Filipinos, said “Duque is doing a fine job.” — With Jocelyn Montemayor
