SULU GOVERNOR Sakur Tan has barred travellers from Malaysia and lockdown his province to prevent the entry of the new strain of Covid-19 following the emergence of a new strain of the virus in Sabah.
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| Gov. Sakur Tan |
Tan said he temporarily closed the province to civilians coming from Sabah to pre-empt the possible spread of the new Covid-19 strain. He said the lockdown began January 4 until January 17.
Exempted from the travel restrictions are frontline health workers, security forces and emergency cases.
Tan said 2020 was a painful year and will be remembered for a long time and for the wrong reason due to the pandemic. He said the pandemic is occupying center stage since March last year and Sulu has not been spared from the dire consequences the virus carry.
“Even on the eve of the New Year the world is again gripped in compounding fear and deep concern brought about by a new viral strain that is rearing its deadly head in Europe and some parts of Asia. The only glitter of hope that comes with 2021 is a promise of a vaccine that will usher in the normalcy that humanity have so long missed and eagerly yearns for,” he said.
Tan said the detection of a new Covid strain further brings fears to many people. He also thanked frontliners, municipal officials and members of the security forces for sacrificing their lives to ensure the safety of others.
“We express our deep appreciation and acknowledge our frontliners for their patience, selflessness and their dogged determination to arrest the spread of the contagion in the service of Sulu and the people. Thank you for your continuing sacrifices,” he said.
“The municipal governments deserve mention for readily answering the call of war against the unseen enemy, and so do too, our uniformed security sector whose personnel are always visible and active in this fight. The Sulu Provincial Government through its Task Force, have neither been remiss in its mandate nor abdicated from its responsibilities. We have done so much as allowed by human and material resources at our disposal. After all what the government has said and done, it is up to the people. Each and every one should be responsible for the safety of their homes, their families and their loved ones. May we all remain secured and safe in God's Mercy and Compassion, inshallah,” Tan said.
With the travel restrictions imposed in Sulu, Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said they deployed additional security forces to patrol the porous southern border with Malaysia to thwart the entry of people.
“We are maximizing our capabilities to keep the contagion offshore. With the new strain of Covid-19 detected in Sabah, the provincial government of Sulu implemented a temporary lockdown of the province to prevent the entry of civilians coming from Sabah and pre-empt the possible spread of the virus,” Vinluan said.
He said naval boats will regularly patrol the border between the Philippines and Malaysia, and also the seas in the provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan.
“The Western Mindanao Command supports the decision of the provincial government of Sulu and we already deployed additional troops to secure the border and to disallow entry of passenger vessels from Sabah,” Vinluan said. “The navy vessels will conduct patrol in the maritime borders of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and the Zamboanga Peninsula to prevent the entry of inflicted individuals to our area of operation.” (Mindanao Examiner)
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