MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police said it was ready to enforce strict quarantine rules once more should President Rodrigo Duterte decide it necessary.
This comes after Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque at a press briefing Monday said that a return to a stricter quarantine status was entirely possible amid the risks posed by the more transmissible Delta variant.
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In a statement sent to media, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar called on the public to cooperate with minimum health standards with the confirmation of 35 Delta variant cases in the Philippines.
"We have all witnessed what happened in India and we do not want the COVID-19 scandal to happen in our country, especially since there are confirmed cases and there are already deaths in our country due to the Delta variant," the PNP said in Filipino.
"But the safety of our country remains in the hands of every Filipino, all that is needed is to abide by the rules implemented by our government for the protection of everyone," he added.
According to the Department of Health, a patient sick with the Delta variant can infect as many as eight other people in one sitting.
To date, 1.5 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in the Philippines, 47,561 of whom are still active cases.
"We know, there is a necessity to contain COVID-19, but we also don't want the number of hungry people to increase," Duterte's spokesperson said Monday morning. "We prefer granular lockdown so that our countrymen can earn a living."
Granular lockdowns are implemented over smaller areas to minimize disruption.
Earlier, Eleazar disclosed that he also tasked police chiefs to deploy more officers in public areas to prevent mass gatherings that can eventually become super spreader events.
The PNP chief added that he has tasked all police offices and units to coordinate closely with their respective local governments and come up with stringent measures to curb the spread of the variant.
"On the side of your PNP, we continue our preparations for worse-case scenarios so we call for the cooperation and collaboration of every Filipino so that we can succeed in controlling and defeating COVID-19, regardless of what variant it is," said Eleazar. — Franco Luna