MANILA, Philippines — The Joint Task Force COVID Shield on Thursday said it would field 150 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) to help man checkpoints and implement strict home quarantine measures in Cebu City.
“Mobility assets of SAF will also be deployed in Cebu City that includes multi-purpose armored vehicles similar to what we used in the implementation of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) in Metro Manila,” Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of JTF COVID Shield, said in a statement.
“We have already coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the deployment of SAF personnel and their mobility assets,” he added.
Eleazar also noted that the SAF commandos will make sure that local residents will wear face masks when going out of their homes for essential travel to suppress the spread of coronavirus disease.
Eleazar said there is a need to deploy the SAF commandos after the government observed that some local residents in Cebu City have been ignoring quarantine rules such as the wearing of face masks and observing physical distancing.
As of Wednesday, Cebu City has 4,479 COVID-19 cases with 89 deaths and 2,177 recoveries.
READ: More cops, soldiers, health workers to enforce Cebu City lockdown — Año (Consuelo Marquez/INQUIRER.net)