The Philippine National Police (PNP) said that it has deployed around 10,000 policemen to intensify the government’s fight against COVID-19 and ensure that curfew hours will be strictly implemented.
PNP officer-in-charge Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, had ordered the police force to practice maximum tolerance and respect for human rights.
“To our personnel on the ground, be reminded of our two rules to avoid unnecessary confrontation to the public — one, observe maximum tolerance; and two, respect the people’s rights. We will be closely monitoring your compliance,” Eleazar said on GMA News.
“And to the public, we also offer a formula to prevent unnecessary confrontation and spare yourself from arrest: one, respect the rules on observance of the minimum health safety standard protocols; and two, respect the authorities that are enforcing these protocols,” he added.
Metro Manila mayors have imposed a unified curfew to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The Philippine Genome Center said that the new COVID-19 variant discovered in the country could be more transmissible, but there is no evidence yet that it could cause severe COVID-19.
The Department of Health on Saturday confirmed the P.3 variant, with a total of 98 cases so far detected.
“Sa palagay ko, masasabi natin it’s really a local variant kasi it’s really a local variant of origin. We have not seen that in the 600,000 deposits in the database. So, we believe that it developed locally,” PGC executive director Cynthia Saloma told ABS-CBN.
“Ang magandang nakikita natin sa lahat ng variants of concern, parang wala namang nakikitang increased pathogenicity. Parang hindi lumalala ‘yung symptoms, hindi siya nakamamatay kung hindi ka naman immunocompromised,” she added.
Pathogenicity refers to the degree of symptoms being experienced by people who contracted the virus.
“‘Pag sinabing pathogenicity, nagiging severe ang symptoms. Parang wala naman tayong nakikita, kahit sa tatlong variants of concern – P.1, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351. Wala naman din silang association sa pagiging mas malala ‘yung sintomas,” she said.
The Philippines on March 14 has 621,498 confirmed COVID-19 cases after the DOH reported 4,899 additional cases.
This marks the third day that the DOH reported more than 4,000 cases daily.
