MANILA, Philippines — Amid mounting concerns over a new strain of coronavirus which experts fear to be more contagious than the original, President Rodrigo Duterte will no longer allow the Department of Education to pilot face-to-face classes come January next year. "I am calling back the order and I will not allow face-to-face classes for children until we are through with this [strain]," Duterte said during a televised meeting with his COVID-19 task force on Satrurday night. Duterte on December 14 approved the conduct of a dry run of face-to-face classes in some schools located in areas with low coronavirus risk. But on Saturday's televised meeting, he said he would order Education Secretary Leonor Briones "to suspend all activities of children, especially...face-to-face classes." Duterte also noted that it has also been detected in Sabah, Malaysia, which is only a few hours away from Sulu.

Source: Philippine Star December 26, 2020 10:52 UTC