Parents urged to keep kids out of public places amid Covid-19

“We agreed upon that in places of convergence, minors, or those 18-years-old and below, who are unsupervised will be cautioned by the police officers to go back home. In the first place, classes are suspended for them to stay at home and not to hang out or meet with their friends. I call for everyone, especially the parents, to keep an eye on your children. Let them stay at home and keep them away from places like Internet cafes, markets, and malls,” Sinas said in a statement. (Pexels Photo)

MANILA – The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Wednesday urged parents to keep their children away from malls, movie houses, and other public places to help contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

NCRPO chief, Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, made the remark following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to suspend classes in all levels in the region from Tuesday to Saturday.

“We agreed upon that in places of convergence, minors, or those 18-years-old and below, who are unsupervised will be cautioned by the police officers to go back home. In the first place, classes are suspended for them to stay at home and not to hang out or meet with their friends. I call for everyone, especially the parents, to keep an eye on your children. Let them stay at home and keep them away from places like Internet cafes, markets, and malls,” Sinas said in a statement.

He said all chiefs of police in Metro Manila have been advised to conduct Oplan Bandillo for community awareness and information dissemination, as well as coordinate with inter-agencies, stakeholders, and barangays in implementing the order.

The NCRPO will intensify nighttime curfew hours for minors as he placed Metro Manila on heightened alert status, Sinas said.

“I have placed the NCRPO (on) heightened alert status, with the mindset of utilizing our resources in NCRPO to help ensure the prevention of the virus’ transmission and immediate response to any incident that may transpire in Metro Manila,” he said.

Heightened alert status means police chiefs will initiate further security measures to preempt and prevent any untoward incident.

Sinas, meanwhile, said disinfection will be conducted starting from the NCRPO headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa down to all police stations and precincts.

He also said the one-meter distance policy has been applied in all Metro Manila police stations and precincts in entertaining complaints, blotter or other reports while detention facilities have been advised to limit visits to detainees.

“Just the same, for their safety and the safety of their loved ones inside the cells, they must avoid too much or close contact and maintain (a) one-meter distance from each other,” Sinas said.

He said all police districts will have their designated area for the quarantine of their personnel.

“PNP personnel who wish to conduct self-quarantine or who wish to be checked and monitored properly are welcome there. The isolated area will be manned by trained NCRPO nurses and doctors,” Sinas said.

On Tuesday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced a temporary ban on all foreign travels for its personnel amid the global outbreak of Covid-19.

“As for the guidance of our Chief PNP (Gen. Archie Gamboa), all NCRPO schoolings, training (courses), and seminars scheduled to be opened are canceled. All travel abroad is now suspended and the NCRPO (personnel) promotion is also put on hold momentarily,” he said.