Tatler looks at the COVID-19 situation weeks after the Greater Manila Area has been placed under ECQ and MECQ. What are the variants we should look out for? Are the cases going down? We have compiled the answers.
Countries around the globe have seen better days. People from all segments of the population continue to witness the deadly and contagious COVID-19 despite the existence of vaccines.
In the Philippines, the national government placed the Greater Manila Area under a stricter enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in March and modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in April to “flatten” the rising cases of COVID-19.
But how is the country doing a few weeks later? In this article, Tatler gathers the answers to frequently asked questions.
Read also: MECQ and ECQ: What's The Difference And Guidelines For 12 to 30 April
NEW VARIANT
The variant B1617 which the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified as “a variant of concern” may be the reason behind the swell in India’s COVID-19 casualties.
“We are classifying this as a variant of concern at a global level. There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility,” WHO technical lead on COVID-19 Maria Van Kerkhove said in a briefing.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the Indian variant is a “double mutant” or a virus that contains two famous mutations. The double mutation strain consists of variants found in Brazil and South Africa that evade the body’s immune response.