The Philippines confirmed domestic transmission of Britain's new, extremely contagious COVID-19 variant Tuesday, prompting the Filipino president to issue new measures against the virus. 

Since March, the Philippines has prevented minors from leaving their houses, but plans to lift the ban in order to prevent further transmission. 

The government hopes that the lifting of the ban on minors will positively affect the economy, which contracted almost ten percent in 2020.

The health ministry said the cases of the new variant, totaling 12, were found in Bontoc, a northern province. There are now 17 confirmed cases in the country. 

The first case came from a citizen traveling from the United Arab Emirates. 

The Philippines records roughly 1800 coronavirus cases per day, down from peaks of over 6000 in August. 

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