2,983 COVID-19 protocol violators accosted in Laguna during ECQ

LUCENA CITY –– The Laguna police accosted 2,983 violators of coronavirus safety protocols during the implementation in the past two weeks of the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status.

Colonel Serafin Petalio II, Laguna police chief, reported on April 12 that the violators were confronted for not wearing a face mask and a face shield and not observing safe physical distance to prevent the virus from spreading.

The police said 1,359 of the violators were apprehended outside their residences, police checkpoints, and market areas.

Petalio said the violators paid fines and given a warning for their misdeeds without any physical punishment.

At least 35 of them were apprehended for violation of the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.”

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had imposed ECQ protocols over the National Capital Region, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna, from March 29 to April 11 to curb the spike of COVID-19 cases with Metro Manila as the epicenter.

The ECQ status was downgraded to a less strict modified ECQ from April 12 until the end of the month.

Petalio reminded the public that prevention of the spread of COVID-19 is a “shared responsibility.”

“We value the community’s cooperation in the imposition of quarantine protocols to minimize the possibility that the infection may reach or spread in their households and loved ones,” he stressed.

He added: “Do not wait for the real shock to come to your home. The real shock – of losing a loved one’s life to COVID-19, of financial constraint, and the like, which could be avoided by wearing protective equipment such face mask and face shield and maintaining social distancing.”

LZB