Sulu asks for gov’t assistance after new COVID variant reportedly detected in Sabah – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday that the Sulu province had asked the national government for assistance after a new variant of COVID-19 was reportedly detected in Sabah, Malaysia.

“The provincial government of Sulu has called the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for assistance following reports that the new strain of the Coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19 has been detected in Sabah, Malaysia,” Duterte said in his meeting with the IATF.

Duterte noted that Sabah is less than 29 hours by boat from the Sulu archipelago.

“We have porous coastlines and the vast Sulu Sea between us and Sabah. And the city, the national government is equipped with the capacity and logistics to put in place and in operation safeguards and preemptive measures called for,” he added.

He said the Sulu Task Force COVID-19 calls on the public not to panic and to heed advisories from official sources.

“With our frontline partners, we intensify our monitoring and utilize all materials and human resources at our disposal to assure our constituents, and we reiterate our call to them to avoid speculations and spread fake and harmful mongering,” Duterte said, quoting Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan.

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