OCTA Research raises concern on uniformed travel protocols for LGUs

MANILA, Philippines — The OCTA Research group on Saturday raised its concern about the government’s decision to implement uniform travel protocols for all local government units (LGUs).

“That is a bit concerning because some areas are doing well pero some areas are not doing well,” Dr. Guido David of the OCTA Research group said during the Laging Handa press briefing.

“We have to be careful about yung mga border controls natin kasi kaya tayo nagkakaroon ng second wave, nagkakaroon tayo ng another increase is hindi tayo masyadong strict sa border controls,” he added.

(We have to be careful about our border controls because this is why we are having a second wave. We are having an increase because we are not strict with our border controls.)

“Hindi naman masama mag-travel but let’s just be strict about our border controls natin para hindi natin ikalat sa buong Pilipinas yung virus,” David later said.

(There’s no harm in traveling but let’s just be strict about our border controls, we don’t want to spread the virus to the whole country.)

This comes as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved uniform travel protocols for all LGUs in the country.

As of Feb. 27, the Department of Health recorded 2,921 new Covid-19 cases—the highest recorded number since Oct. 16 last year, On that day,  3,132 new infections were recorded.

/MUF