THE NATIONAL Task Force Against Covid-19 has temporarily suspended the entry of Filipino deportees following the request made by the local government due to the high number of Covid-19 cases here.
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Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, said Zamboanga now has over 2,500 active coronavirus cases and the number is steadily increasing due to violation of health protocols by residents.
Climaco said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who heads the National Task Force Against Covid-19, approved her appeal for a moratorium on the return of Filipinos from Sabah, many of them illegal entrants.
The mayor said the moratorium will run for at least two weeks after Lorenzana approved it. She said Lorenzana texted her, saying: “Okay, Mayor Beng. We will suspend the (arrival of) ROFs from Sabah for two weeks initial.”
ROFs refers to Returning Overseas Filipinos.
Climaco said she personally appealed to Lorenzana and explained to him the current health situation in Zamboanga. “This is what I texted the good Secretary Lorenzana: We appeal for a moratorium of Sabah ROFs because we cannot manage patients. Life is very fragile and Covid very potent. We need to protect everyone, including our frontliners.”
Zamboanga City is the entry point for returning Filipino workers and deportees from Sabah. It is also a converging point for those from Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and other provinces going to Manila or travellers returning home.
The sudden spike in Covid-19 infections here - from just under three
dozen active cases in early March to probably around 3,000 by end of May -
occurred following the easing of travel restrictions by the national government
and the revival of the tourism industry in the country.
The uniformed travel protocols were approved by national
government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious
Diseases under Resolution No. 101 which forgoes documentary requirements
such as RT-PCR testing and medical certificate for travellers across the
country in an effort to revive the economy.
It was crafted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government,
the Philippine National Police, the Union of Local Authorities of the
Philippines, the League of Provinces of the Philippines, the League of
Municipalities of the Philippines, and the League of Cities of the Philippines.
The surge in Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga City may have been caused
by new strains of coronavirus that are now plaguing the National Capital Region
and other provinces in the country.
The Department of Health also
confirmed in March the presence of Covid-19 U.K. variant in the provinces of
Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur from 2 overseas Filipino workers who
arrived home from Kuwait and Abu Dhabi in February. (Zamboanga Post)
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