FILE PHOTO: Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Police units should intensify their monitoring of adherence to protocols against COVID-19 as the country saw notable increases in infection recently, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said Tuesday.
Carlos said in a statement that police units should step up their deployment to public places especially since the Department of Health (DOH) admitted on Monday that the Philippines is back as being “high risk” for COVID-19 transmission.
This is also necessary, the PNP chief said, as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had already placed Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal among areas under Alert Level 3 starting January 5.
Metro Manila is declared under COVID-19 Alert Level 3 from January 3-15.
“DOH is sending a red flag to law enforcers to recalibrate their strategy. It is laid upon us to manage the movement of people, grounded on the national IATF direction and local Executive Orders,” Carlos said.
“The same template with that of Metro Manila will be implemented in those three areas,” he added.
Carlos — who announced earlier that he has also tested positive for COVID-19 — said that the establishment of border checkpoints will be up to the decision of local chief executives as the PNP prefers inter-city or inter-municipality travel to be free-flowing to avoid congestions.
“As much as possible, we want the inter-LGU travel to be free-flowing to avoid traffic congestions, but if the Local Chief Executives will formalize their mandates, then we have everything set for the checkpoint inspections,” he said.
In terms of implementation, Carlos said he is asking police officers to be patient in dealing with people to avoid untoward incidents.
“I also ask our police personnel to exercise prudence in dealing with the civilians to avoid altercations and misunderstanding. To better explain to them, empower yourself with the executive orders existing in your areas of jurisdiction,” he noted.
Aside from him, Carlos said that his aide and driver who were with him in a car last Sunday morning also tested positive for COVID-19. He said they had themselves tested after some of the personnel in the official residence of the PNP chief experienced fever and chills.
READ: PNP chief Carlos contracts suspected Omicron variant of COVID-19
The DOH on Tuesday reported the infection of 5,434 more people in the country raising COVID-19 active cases to 29,809.
Earlier, the PNP also reported a huge increase in active COVID-19 infections, jumping from just 14 last December 28 to 164 on Tuesday, January 4. This was after 107 new cases were recorded by the PNP’s Health Service.
In contrast, only eight new cases were recorded within PNP on Monday, January 3.
Some experts believe that the quick rise in COVID-19 infections may be due to the Omicron variant, which is believed to be more infectious than the Delta variant that caused the surge last August-September 2021.
READ: DOH cites ‘high possibility’ of Omicron variant’s local transmission