Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos on Thursday urged the public to continue observing minimum public health standards after the country reported two cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Carlos reiterated the need to always wear protective equipment such as face masks and face shields especially in public places and to strictly observe physical distancing and personal hygiene.
“Aside from being mandated in various Executive Orders and the IATF guidelines, these actions create a sense of personal responsibility among the public, including vaccination which is the ultimate game-changer in this health crisis,” Carlos said in a statement.
Carlos also asked the public not to take these protocols lightly to avoid being cited for violations to achieve safer mobility this holiday season.
“Since the extension of the implementation of Alert Level 2 throughout the country until the end of December, the same quarantine protocol will be observed. But as Christmas draws near, more people are going outdoors for holiday shopping. We can’t be complacent now,” said Carlos.
The PNP shall continue to discharge its duty of maintaining peace and order in the enforcement of quarantine protocols, he added.
This developed as the PNP, on Thursday, recorded zero new Covid-19 cases among PNP personnel while three more cases have recovered, further reducing the number of active cases down to only 25 which are mostly mild to moderate cases.
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) reported that there were no untoward incidents reported at the start of the traditional Simbang Gabi in the region.
“Almost all of our churches were covered by security personnel. This is to ensure the churchgoers would be properly safeguarded against any criminal element who might take advantage,” NCRPO chief, Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. told reporters on the sidelines on the launching of Marikina River Patrol on Thursday.
Based on its monitoring, the NCRPO said around 61,000 devotees attended Masses in 313 places of worship while 3,000 cops were deployed together with 11,000 force multipliers to maintain order and security and ensure compliance with minimum health protocols.
“In line with our Ligtas Kapaskuhan kung makikita ninyo we have been implementing yung ating health protocols since day one and hindi po magsasagawa yung ating kapulisan na mag implement at mag-remind sa ating mga kababayan na yung very basic wearing of face mask should always be there and yung (Our police force will not get tired of implementing health protocols and reminding our kababayans of the very basic rule of wearing face masks and) social distancing,” Danao noted.
Local police units will also be on the lookout for criminal elements engaged in common crimes such as mugging, swindling, gang wars, robbery and theft, and burglary of unattended residences, he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency