Luzon-wide quarantine different from self-quarantine: Palace

FILE: A member of the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region checks temperature of people in a passenger jeepney using thermal scanner as the 30-day ‘community quarantine’ in Metro Manila begins on Sunday (March 15, 2020). (PNA Photo By Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – The enhanced community quarantine imposed in Luzon is different from the self-quarantine observed by people who have been exposed to a person infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a Palace official said on Tuesday.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the enhanced community quarantine would be implemented for 30 days while self-quarantine would only last for 14 days.

“’Yung 14-day quarantine, kapag ikaw ay self-quarantine (The 14-day quarantine is applicable if you are practicing self-quarantine),” Nograles said during the “Laging Handa” program aired on state-run PTV-4. “Pero yun pong ating (But our) enhanced community quarantine is still 30 days.”

On Thursday night, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that an enhanced community quarantine will be implemented in the whole of Luzon until April 12.

Placing Luzon under enhanced community quarantine compels over 53 million people residing in Luzon to follow “strict” home quarantine and limit their movement to accessing basic necessities.

The provision for food and essential health services is regulated, and the presence of uniformed personnel is heightened during the month-long enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.

Meanwhile, people who have been exposed to Covid-19 are advised to practice self-quarantine for 14 days.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global pandemic after Covid-19, which began spreading in Wuhan, China in December 2019, now affects over 100 countries, including the Philippines.

The Philippines has so far recorded 142 positive cases of Covid-19 and 12 deaths of infected people.

WHO has warned that the number of Covid-19 cases in the Philippines might reach 75,000, if the government fails to address the outbreak.