MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar urged police commanders on Wednesday to establish ways to assist contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in their respective areas of responsibility.
Experts have warned that Covid-19 cases might reach 20,000 per day, prompting Eleazar to issue the order.
“Inatasan ko na ang ating Joint Task Force Covid Shield at ang aming mga (I have assigned our Joint Task Force Covid Shield and our) police commanders to coordinate with the LGUs [local government units] in order to conduct assessments of existing protocols and draw up security adjustments in the interest of public health and safety,” Eleazar said in a statement.
Local commanders should consider knowing the local factors that affect the transmission of the coronavirus in order to make appropriate adjustments in the quarantine regulations, he said.
“I also instructed the Joint Task Force Covid Shield to identify the best practices in some local government units (LGUs) that could be replicated in areas with high Covid cases,” he added.
The OCTA Research Group, an independent organization of experts that forecasts the Covid-19 situation in the country, has warned that cases might reach 20,000 per day.
Since the pandemic began in March of last year, the Philippines has recorded a total of 1,883,088 Covid-19 infections, including 125,378 active cases.
Eleazar cited a high number of violators of the minimum public health standard and quarantine regulations in recent days, notwithstanding the ongoing rise of Covid-19 cases.
“Naniniwala ang inyong PNP na ang first line of defense sa Covid-19 ay ang pagsasa-isip at pagsasa-puso ng determinasyon ng bawat isa sa atin na hindi tayo mahawa at ang ating mga pamilya sa nakamamatay na virus na ito (The PNP believes that the first line of defense in Covid-19 is to think over and make us all determined that this deadly virus will not infect us and our families). The enforcement part involving the PNP is an added layer of defense against those who continue to defy the quarantine rules,” he said.
He advised the population to get vaccinated again as more Covid-19 vaccine supplies arrived in the country.
Eleazar stated that the Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to almost 88 percent of the 220,000-strong PNP personnel.
