An official from the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday that the Philippines is tightening border control at four points to stop the monkeypox virus from getting into the country.
“Kasalukyang 12 bansa na ang may pinakabagong kaso ng monkeypox. Kabilang dito ay siyam na bansa sa Europa pati na rin sa Estados Unidos, Canada at Australia. Dahil dito ang DOH ay pinaigting, katuwang ng ibang national agencies ang four-door strategy,” Health undersecretary Abdullah Dumama Jr. said during the weekly “Talk to the People.”
(Currently, 12 countries have the latest cases of monkeypox. This includes nine countries in Europe and the United States, Canada, and Australia. As a result, the DOH has intensified the four-door strategy in collaboration with other national agencies.)
“Ating pagtitibayin ang screening process sa borders para maiwasan ang pagpasok sa bansa,” he added.
(We will implement a more vigorous screening process to prevent the entry of the virus into our borders.)
The Department of Health says that a four-door strategy is a “nationally enabled, locally-led, and people-centered response” that was first used to stop the spread of the dangerous coronavirus.
Philippines intensifies border control to prevent monkeypox entry
It has four parts: putting in place travel restrictions and bans as a separate and primary level of defense to add to the health protocols that are already in place; making sure that safeguards like screening, testing, and quarantine are put in place at points of entry to make it less likely that incoming travelers will cause the local spread of variants of concerns; and strengthening the implementation of the prevent-detect-isolate-treat-reintegrate st.
The DOH said last week that there are still no monkeypox cases.
To stop the virus from spreading, the DOH told people to follow minimum public health standards like wearing a mask, keeping a safe distance, and cleaning.
Vaccine Experts Panel member Dr. Rontgene Solante stated that monkeypox, common in portions of Central and West Africa, has been identified in countries with “high-tech healthcare facilities.”
Solante noted that Covid-19 is more contagious than monkeypox because it may be transmissible in multiple ways, whereas monkeypox can only be spread in one method.
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