Negros Occidental and Bacolod City officials today, January 26, welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s reversal of a rule allowing persons aged 10 to 14 years old in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine to go out starting February 1.
The president Monday night overturned the decision of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, amid concern over the new United Kingdom Covid-19 variant.
This means only persons aged 15 to 65 will be allowed out in areas under MGCQ in February. Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are currently under MGCQ.
Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said he agrees with the president 100 percent, “it’s too early for us to let down our guards. We don’t want to be in a position where the infection will happen ahead of the vaccination and in the process we lose more people to COVID.”
“We cannot preempt the vaccines, let us allow the vaccines to arrive and be administered, and then after that then perhaps we can say that we can really be ready for the new normal,” Diaz said.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center medical deputy for data analysis and assessment, said that they are happy with the president’s decision because the EOC supports the position of the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP) not to allow children aged 10 years and older to go outside of their residence.
Children belong to a vulnerable group, they can be the source of COVID-19 when they return to their homes and there is no assurance of their proper compliance of health protocols to protect themselves, Sorongon said.
Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said it is better to be safe than sorry, Sorongon also pointed out.
The PPS and PIDSP position paper said Department of Health data as of January 16, 2021 shows that the pediatric population accounts for 8.9 percent of the total cases of COVID-19 in the country. Among all pediatric COVID-19 cases, 64 percent belong to the 10-19 years old age group.*