Gov’t to review border control protocols weekly amid Omicron threat

Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The government will review the country’s border control protocols every week amid the threat of the COVID-19 Omicron variant which experts fear could potentially be highly transmissible and affect the efficacy of vaccines.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the review of border control protocols for foreign countries is usually done every 15 days, but this was shortened to just seven days due to the Omicron variant.

The Philippines categorizes countries as either “green,” “yellow,” or “red” according to their COVID-19 risk levels. Countries and territories included in the “red” list are considered as “high-risk” areas for COVID-19.

“We review and do our analysis every 15 days so we can be able to classify countries as to red, yellow, and green, but with this emerging Omicron variant, we are reviewing every week so we can be able to determine if there are still other countries that should be included in our red-listed countries,” she told ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Vergeire explained that the government is also considering the incidence rate and two-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases in foreign countries in classifying their categories for border protocols.

“So even though Czech Republic only has one Omicron case, we can see that their incidence has increased and their two-week growth rate has increased and they are part of the red listed countries,” said Vergeire.

“Some countries would have only one Omicron variant or individual that has been detected but if you look at their histories and the chronology of events that they have, there is suspicion already of community transmission in their areas because the families of these individuals were also affected and have been detected to be positive cases,” she added.

The Philippines has yet to detect any case of the Omicron variant, which was first discovered by South African scientists. However, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier warned that its entry to the country is only a “matter of when.”

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