Women ride a tricycle with plastic covers past a spray of disinfectants along a road during an enhanced community quarantine to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Manila on Friday. (AP)
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affair Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the government should reimpose the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine if the public would fail to adhere to mandatory lockdown practices.
Locsin broached the idea on Monday as a reaction to the pronouncement of Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the government’s COVID-19 response, that if the Luzon-wide lockdown would be strictly followed, only selected areas would be locked down once the quarantine is lifted.
“Reimpose it if the public does not stick to the social distancing, protective wear and other practices mandatory during the lockdown,” Locsin said on Twitter.
Reimpose it if the public does not stick to the social distancing, protective wear & other practices mandatory during the lockdown. The reimposition can be selective and very severe on areas that fail to observe right practices in significant numbers. https://t.co/yHeDOkZHJL
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) April 12, 2020
“The reimposition can be selective and very severe on areas that fail to observe right practices in significant numbers,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the entire Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continued to increase. The quarantine became effective on March 17 and was initially set to be lifted on April 13.
The quarantine period, however, has been extended until April 30.
To date, the Philippines has 4,648 COVID-19 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease in the country.
Of the number, 297 patients have died while 197 recovered from the disease.
COVID-19 cases in PH climb to 4,648 as 220 more persons get infection