Senate suspends work after enhanced community quarantine
MANILA, Philippines — Work at the Senate will be suspended starting Tuesday after President Rodrigo Duterte placed the whole of Luzon under “enhanced community quarantine” due to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) threat.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Monday that the Senate will follow the President’s pronouncement and employees of the Senate will no longer come to work “in the meantime.”
“We follow. Senate employees will no longer go to work in the meantime. Office of the Sergeant-of-Arms (OSAA) and security guards will remain in a skeletal number only,” he told reporters in a Viber message.
Sotto also rejected the idea of holding a special session to pass a supplemental budget aimed to fund efforts in combating the spread of the COVID-19, asying that there is enough budget to address the situation.
To date, the Philippines has recorded a total of 140 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 12 deaths.
READ: COVID-19 patient dies in Makati, bringing virus deaths in PH to 12 – DOH
The President placed the entire island of Luzon under “enhanced community quarantine” “effective immediately” as confirmed cases continue to rise in the country.
Under an enhanced community quarantine, “strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households; transportation shall be suspended; provision for food and essential services shall be regulated; and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented.”
READ: Luzon now under ‘enhanced community quarantine’ – Palace
The World Health Organization declared the disease as a global pandemic after it killed nearly 5,000 people and infected 110,000 others worldwide.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.
The virus causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.
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What you need to know about Coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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