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| President Rodrigo Duterte talks to the nation. Photo Credit: PCOO |
This was confirmed by presidential spokesman Harry Roque in a radio interview.
As a protocol, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to recommend the quarantine classifications for approval of the president.
LIVESTREAM: President Rodrigo Duterte's address (December 28, 2020)
Meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Medical Experts | Talk to the People Heroes Hall, Malacañan Palace December 28, 2020President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gathers several Cabinet Secretaries, members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and medical experts from various government agencies, academe and organizations to resume discussions on the recently discovered new Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant and other related concerns in a meeting at the Heroes Hall in Malacañan Palace on December 28, 2020. With the threat and emergence of the new strain, President Duterte reassures his ‘kababayans’ that the government will implement and review as necessary the needed testing, quarantine and safety protocols to prevent its entry in Philippine shores. The Chief Executive also announces the Community Quarantine Classification that shall be implemented in different cities within the country from January 1-31, 2021. Furthermore, he reads the list of Representatives allegedly involved in corruption with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and orders the Department to reshuffle its district engineers throughout the country to avoid familiarity in the area. Present in the meeting are Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go (Chairman, Senate Committee on Health and Demography), Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III, National Task Force against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (NTF COVID-19) Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Wendel Avisado, Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) Undersecretary Marah Victoria Querol and OES Assistant Secretary Kim Raissa Uy. Also in attendance are Dr. Marissa Alejandria (Member, Technical Advisory Group [TAG] for COVID-19), Dr. Marc Edsel Ayes (Laboratory Manager, University of the Philippines [UP]-Philippine Genome Center [PGC]), Dr. Celia Carlos (Director, DOH-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine [RITM]), Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-dela Paz (UP National Institutes of Health), Dr. Althea de Guzman (Medical Specialist, DOH-Epidemiology Bureau), Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo (Director General, DOH-Food and Drug Administration [FDA]), Dr. Aguedo Troy Gepte IV (Consultant, Senate Committee on Health and Demography), Dr. Nina Gloriani (Head, Vaccine Development Expert Panel; and Professor, UP College of Public Health), Dr. Teodoro Herbosa (Special Adviser, NTF COVID-19), Dr. Jaime Montoya (Executive Director, Department of Science and Technology [DOST]-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development), Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma (Executive Director, UP-PGC), Dr. Mario Panaligan (Immediate Past President, Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; and President, Philippine College of Physicians), Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana (Member, TAG), Dr. Ofelia Saniel (Special Adviser, NTF-COVID-19; and Professor Emeritus, UP College of Public Health) and Dr. Socorro Zarate-Escalante (Coordinator, World Health Organization [WHO]). #HealAsOne #2020DuterteVision #DuterteLegacy #ComfortableLifeForAll #PartnerForChange
Posted by Philippine Information Agency on Monday, December 28, 2020
Metro Manila is currently under general community quarantine, while most of the areas in the country are under modified GCQ, the the loosest quarantine classification.
On Saturday, Duterte met selected members of his Cabinet along with infectious disease experts to discuss the emerging fast-spreading new variant of COVID-19, first detected in the United Kingdom.
Duterte recalled the implementation of the face-to-face classes in pilot areas over fears of new strain of COVID-19.
The president approved a two-week extension of travel ban on UK that expires December 31.
Other measures include strict mandatory quarantine for travelers coming from countries with reports on the new COVID-19 variant — Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia.
Travelers from those countries will undergo mandatory completion of 14-day quarantine regardless of their reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 766 new COVID-19 cases on December 28, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 470,650 with 438,780 recoveries (93.2%) and 9,124 deaths (1.94%).
DOH said the continuing decrease in cases over the holiday season (December 24 to January 4) is due to the decreased number of patients being tested as many people want to celebrate the holidays at home.
— The Summit Express
