MANILA – The enforcement of minimum health protocols to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will be much tighter this Christmas season, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.
According to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, police visibility will be improved while barangay authorities will patrol in concerned areas to remind them of these measures.
“Pagpasok ng December, kabi-kabilang anyaya ng party, kainan so hihigpitan natin ngayon,” he said in an interview over DZBB AM radio.
“Ang police visibility mas lalo natin ipapakita at ‘yung ating mga LGUs, barangay officials, barangay tanod iikot para ma-remind ‘yung mga tao na huwag na tayo mag-mass gathering,” he added.
The conduct of Christmas parties and caroling will be discouraged while the public will also be reminded to observe physical distancing especially in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) until Dec. 31.
Among the areas under GCQ until the end of the year were Metro Manila, the provinces of Batangas and Lanao del Sur, Davao del Norte and cities of Iloilo, Tacloban, Iligan, and Davao.
On Sunday, an expert from the University of the Philippines-OCTA Research team said the reproduction number of the coronavirus causing COVID-19 has gone up to 0.99 in the National Capital Region.
UP professor Guido David said from 0.90 on Dec. 1, NCR’s reproduction number hit 0.94 on Dec. 5, reached 0.96 on Dec. 10 and 0.99 as of Dec. 11. It was 0.88 last November.
“An R0 (R-naught) below one means that the trend in new cases is downward, while an R0 above one means the trend is upward. The increase due to the holidays was very likely,” David said.
“The goal is to not let this number increase even further, because when that happens, cases will start piling up. Right now, we are counting on the preparation of the LGUs (local government units) and the healthcare system for this expected surge in cases,” he added./PN
