POLICE Chief Guillermo Eleazar appealed to the public Thursday, October 21, to be responsible when going outside, especially when visiting leisure areas, noting that over 45,000 quarantine violators were apprehended since Metro Manila was downgraded to Alert Level 3.
Eleazar has tasked concerned police offices to ensure that there is enough deployment of marshals in public areas to ensure that minimum health protocols are observed.
He made the appeal after noting the violations committed by some of those visiting the Dolomite Beach in Manila Bay and other public leisure areas in Metro Manila.
“Nauunawaan ko ang kagustuhan ng ating mga kababayan na makalabas ng kanilang mga tahanan, subalit kung hindi tayo mag-iingat ay hindi malabong tumaas na naman ang kaso ng Covid-19 at mapilitan na naman ang gobyerno na maghigpit sa mga protocols,” he said.
(I understand our fellowmen’s urge to go out, but if we don’t observe the minimum health protocols, the number of Covid-19 cases might again increase and the government might be forced again to implement stricter measures.)
He reminded the police personnel to observe maximum tolerance against violators.
The National Government downgraded Metro Manila’s alert status to Level 3 from October 16 to October 31 amid the decrease in Covid-19 cases in the region.
Several establishments are allowed to operate at 30 percent indoor venue capacity for fully vaccinated individuals, and 50 percent outdoor venue capacity regardless of vaccination status, provided that all employees are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
In Marikina, Mayor Marcelo Teodoro said they are limiting the number of visitors at the Riverbanks Center after some went out of control and violated the health protocols when they flocked the area over the weekend.
“Ngayon nilalagyan natin sila ng limit maski na open area. May limit ang puwedeng maka-access doon sa area na yun (We limited the number of visitors, even in areas that are open),” he said in a television interview.
Since October 16, when Metro Manila’s status was downgraded, the Philippine National Police (PNP) recorded 45,592 quarantine violators in the National Capital Region (NCR). Of the number, 33,371 violated the health protocols, while 11,903 were curfew violators.
Eleazar said 56 percent of the violators were warned, 36 percent were fined and eight percent are facing other sanctions.
On October 20, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 3,656 new Covid-19 cases in the country.
The country has so far recorded a total of 2,735,369 Covid-19 cases with 40,977 deaths and 2,627,331 recoveries.
The Octa research group said the Covid-19 reproduction number nationwide dipped down to 0.55 and 0.47 in the NCR, the epicenter of the pandemic in the country.
Octa said the reproduction rate indicates the number of people infected by a coronavirus-positive person.
A reproduction number that is below one indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.
“Cases expected to decrease to pre-delta surge level by the end of October,” Octa fellow Dr. Guido David said.
David said the current seven-day average of Covid-19 cases nationwide is at 6,416 and 1,156 in the NCR.
He said it was the lowest seven-day average since July when Covid-19 cases spiked due to the Delta variant. (SunStar Philippines)