Manila: A Catholic bishop in the Philippines on May 12 reminded people to observe safety protocols amid the detection of the ‘double mutant’ coronavirus variant first discovered in India.

“What we need to do is keep the protocols in mind and as much as possible have oneself inoculated,” said Bishop Jaime Oscar Florencio, vice chairperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Health commission.

In an interview, the prelate also asked the people to pray and ask for protection from God.

“On top of these, don’t forget (to call to) our Almighty for protection,” Bishop Florencio said.

He added that it is not a good thing to blame people or groups over the detection of the B.1.617 variant in the country.

“Times like this to be pointing fingers is not appropriate or is bad taste. We can’t blame one group here because our enemy is not seen and besides we don’t have any control over its passage to our country,” he added.

On May 11, the Department of Health reported that the B.1.617 variant was detected from two male overseas Filipino workers.

The Filipinos came from the Middle East, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Both of them had no travel history to India.

The Philippines has imposed travel restrictions on travelers from India until May 14, to prevent the entry of the new variant that is responsible for the South Asian nation’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

The travel ban has been expanded by also prohibiting travelers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to enter the country until May 14.

Meanwhile, the Indian government on May 12 clarified that the World Health Organisation has not associated the term “Indian variant” with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus.

“Several media reports have covered the news of World Health Organisation (WHO) classifying B.1.617 as variant of global concern. Some of these reports have termed the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus as an Indian variant” said a statement from the Indian ministry of health and family welfare.

The ministry also said that use of the term ‘Indian variant’ is without basis and unfounded.

Meanwhile, WHO Southeast Asia in a tweet said that WHO does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries they are first reported. “We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency.

Earlier, the WHO declared B.1.617 — which counts three so-called sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics – as a “variant of concern.”

It was therefore added to the list containing three other variants of Covid-19 -those first detected in Britain, Brazil and South Africa.

On May 12, the WHO said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 was first found in India in October last year. It has been detected in sequences uploaded “from 44 countries in all six WHO regions.”

“As of 11 May, over 4,500 sequences have been uploaded to GISAID (platform of data sharing mechanism for influenza) and assigned to B.1.617 from 44 countries in all six WHO regions, and WHO has received reports of detections from five additional countries,” said the organization’s weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.

Sources: pna.gov.ph and indianexpress.com