THE Philippines remains at low risk for COVID-19 amid the reported rise in cases in other countries believed to be caused by the FliRT variants, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
In a statement, the DOH said it is monitoring the country’s Covid cases as well as the newly designated variants.
“There is still no scientific basis for travel restrictions to any country because of an increase in COVID-19 cases,” the DOH said.
“The Department remains to be in close coordination with international health authorities,” it added.
Latest data from the DOH showed that from May 14 to May 20, the average number of daily cases reported is 202. “This is fewer than the 500 cases per day reported earlier this year and the 1,750 daily COVID-19 cases year-on-year,” the health department said.
Of the new cases, at least 16 were critical. From May 7 to May 20, there were five fatalities.
Earlier, the DOH placed the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) under “heightened alert” and directed the agency to conduct screening at points of entry for arriving visitors coming from countries where the new Covid-19 “FLiRT” variants have been detected.
The term “FLiRT” was coined by researchers to describe the amino acid changes in the virus’ spike protein, specifically from phenylalanine (F) to leucine (L), and from arginine (R) to threonine (T).
