Governors discuss measures vs Omicron
LOCAL chief executives in the provinces this early are discussing appropriate options in preparation against the reported new COVID-19 Omicron variant.
League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) president and Marinduque governor Presbitero Velasco Jr. said his fellow governors will come out in the coming days additional health regulations in the wake of threats posed by the new variant.
The new development according to Velasco has prompted the LPP to pursue actions and other health measures to protect their consituents against the Omicron variant seen by medical experts as possibly much-deadlier than the delta strain.
“Malaking problema na rin nga ho itong biglang pagluluwag (health protocols) pati po yung mga public utility vehicles (PUV) ay umaarangkada na. So ang nakikita ko po dyan ay talagang maghihigpit din po yung mga ilang LGU,” the LPP head said in an interview over ABS-CBN.
At present, local chief executives (LCE) he added, are weighing their options because of the omicron threat.
Velasco further admitted that he is expecting LGUs to come out with executive orders that will best suit for their localities as it remains evident that even the fully vaccinated individuals may be asymptomatic and can still be carriers of the virus.
As a precautionary measure, Velasco pointed out that the LGUs have instilled varying border control regulations even if the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has the power to enforce the alert level in the localities.
“Alam nyo ho iba iba yung strategy namin dahil nga po ibaiba yung teritoryo ng mga LGU. Yung iba ho talaga hinihigpitan yung border control. Sa iba ho ay hindi kayo basta makakapasok (visitors) kung walang travel permit,” he stressed.
Even before omicron hit the news, the LPP head said he saw the urgent need for a relentless information campaign to educate the unvaccinated individuals on the advantages of getting the COVID-19 jabs.
