National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chairperson and Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana pointed out that while the number of COVID-19 positive cases may not be too high, quarantine protocols must be maintained for the public to get used to the “new normal.”
“Hindi pa tayo makakapag-loosen up completely dahil ang purpose natin dito although ‘yung ating cases ng COVID, hindi na tumataas, we would like to impose to our people ‘yung self-discipline (We cannot loosen up completely because our purpose here, although our number of COVID-19 cases is not increasing, we would like to impose self-discipline on our people).”
Sec. Delfin Lorenzana added that the quarantine protocol in areas with high numbers of COVID-19 positive will stay strict.
National Action Plan Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. initially said that a zoning concept may be implemented, where only zones or clusters with high COVID-19 positive cases will implement strict quarantine measures.
Meanwhile, Sec. Lorenzana stated that he understands the complaints of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) due to the delayed results of their COVID-19 tests.
“Since Monday, nakapagpadala na tayo sa probinsya ng almost six thousand so tuloy-tuloy yan. Ang target natin is towards the end of, siguro next week. (Since Monday, we have sent almost 6,000 back to the provinces so it is now ongoing. Our target is towards the end of, maybe, next week.)”
He guaranteed that the procedures will be stringent for OFWs who will return to the Philippines to ensure that they are clear of the virus. – Report from Bea Bernardo
