Manila restores virus ban on children
MANILA: The government on Friday suspended the implementation of its resolution allowing children, aged 5 and above, to leave their homes and go outdoors even as it included Malaysia and Thailand in its expanded travel ban to prevent the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19.
For the same reason, the government also placed under the stricter lockdown called general community quarantine (GCQ) with “heightened restrictions” Metro Manila and four other provinces - Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon as well as Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte in Mindanao with effect until July 31.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases restored the ban against minors going outdoors in response to a recommendation from the 17 Metro Manila mayors as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 Delta variant which was traced to India.
“Due to the confirmation of the local transmission of the Delta variant, the IATF agreed unanimously to restore the ban against children leaving their homes,” Duque told ABS-CBN Teleradyo.
But Duque assured the IATF members would again meet to assess the situation in one or two weeks and determine whether they would again allow the children to go outdoors ater more than a year of being cooped up by the lockdowns.
Even before the IATF decision, however, Mayor Toby Tiangco of suburban Navotas City in Metro Manila jumped the gun on his colleagues, saying he already ordered parents as of Wednesday not to allow their children to go outdoors as a precautionary measure against the spread of the Delta variant.
At the same time, Harry Roque, the presidential spokesman, announced the government included Malaysia and Thailand, which are being besieged by the Delta variant, in the expanded travel ban with effect from July 25 to 31. “President Duterte has decided to include Malayia and Thailand in the countries affected by our travel ban,” Roque told government-run PTV4. Earlier, Dr Maricar Limpin, the president of the Philippine College of Physicians urged the government to include in the travel ban the two countries to help prevent the entry of the Delta variant which continues to wreak havoc on more than 100 nations.