Travelers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Nikko Fabian
KOTA KINABALU : It is essetial for Malaysians to be aware of the presence of KP.3 variant in the Philippines.
Travelling Malaysians including Sabshans are reminded to stay infomred anout rhe evolving situation regarding Covid-19 variants.
Curently, a budget airline is operating the Kuala Lumpur- Manila, and Kota Kinabalu routes on regular weekly frequency.
The passenger load of every scheduled flights remained steadly on the rise based on airline’s statistics.
In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) has heightened screening measures for visitors arriving from countries with the “FLiRT” variants of COVID-19, specifically the KP.2 and KP.3 variants.
These variants, known as “FLiRT,” have specific changes in the virus’s spike protein.
The DOH has directed all entry points in the country to conduct thorough screening for visitors originating from countries where these variants have been detected.
While the FLiRT variants have been linked to a surge in COVID-19 cases globally, including in neighboring countries like Singapore, the World Health Organization has stated that there is currently no evidence to suggest that the KP.2 and KP.3 variants cause severe or critical COVID-19.
Despite a slight increase in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, the DOH maintains that all regions in the country remain at low risk for transmission.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 3 designated four JN.1 sublineages — JN.1.7, JN.1.18, KP.2, and KP.3, more commonly known as “FLiRT” — as currently circulating variants under monitoring.
According to DOH, the term “FLiRT” was coined by researchers to describe the amino acid changes in the COVID-19 virus’ spike protein, specifically from phenylalanine (F) to leucine (L), and from arginine (R) to threonine (T).
The DOH, however, emphasized that there is no current evidence to show yet that the KP.2 and KP.3 variants could cause severe to critical COVID-19, both locally and internationally.
Singapore, which is near the Philippines, reported having a spike in COVID-19 infections in the previous weeks, with the FLiRT variants believed to be the culprit.
Incidentally, the DOH has recently observed a “small” increase in COVID-19 cases, as 877 new cases ones recorded nationwide from May 7 to 13, with an average of 125 cases per day.
Despite this, the DOH last Tuesday said that all regions in the country remained at low risk for COVID-19.
Health Secretary Herbosa also said he would not recommend any border control or travel restrictions amid the reported increase of cases in Singapore.
Even infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said that the FLiRT variants only pose “low public health risk
