Philippine Police Deployed As Virus Cases Forced Into Quarantine
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published July 15, 2020 | 01:10 PM
Manila, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jul, 2020 ) :Philippine police are being deployed to ensure people who test positive for the coronavirus and cannot self-isolate at home are taken to state-run quarantine centres, sparking warnings Wednesday of potential rights violations.
The move comes as authorities step up efforts to slow the rapid spread of the disease by increasing testing, reimposing lockdowns, and building dozens of quarantine centres to isolate patients with mild symptoms.
To clamp down on local transmission, police are accompanying health workers to the homes of people who have tested positive and taking them to government facilities if their homes are considered inadequate for self-isolation or if they live with "vulnerable" people, officials said.
"We prefer that the asymptomatics and the mild cases voluntarily surrender and confine themselves in isolation centres," said Harry Roque, spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte, defending forced quarantine as legal.
"It's a paid-for vacation in an airconditioned facility. It's not as if they are going to... the gulag and to the jails." Interior Minister Eduardo Ano had sparked outcry on Tuesday when he said police would search for infected people and threatened imprisonment for anyone who tried to hide COVID-19 symptoms.
"House-to-house police searches have led to thousands of gruesome killings in the government's sham drug war," said local rights group Karapatan, referring to Duterte's controversial campaign against drugs.
"These searches would only intimidate patients and their families -- and what are the police going to do when patients refuse to come with them, shoot them dead?" The National Union of Peoples' Lawyers said it would "sow fear in our communities and trample on our rights".
The police on Wednesday appeared to row back on Ano's comments, saying officers would serve as a "last resort" to get people with the virus into quarantine centres.
"We will not, on our own, knock on the doors of individual houses," Guillermo Eleazar, police deputy chief for operations, told a local radio station.
"We will accompany the town's local task force against COVID-19 led by health workers." To handle the growing number of cases, the government plans to build 50 quarantine facilities, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar had announced Monday.
Villar said Wednesday he had tested positive for the virus.
The Philippines already has more than 8,300 quarantine centres with over 73,000 beds. The average utilisation rate is 32 percent, health department figures showed.
After imposing one of the world's longest lockdowns, the Philippines has been easing restrictions in recent weeks, fuelling a surge in new infections.
It had 57,545 confirmed cases on Tuesday, with 1,603 deaths.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
SC orders end of encroachments in Karachi
Nazish Jahangir denies viral screenshots, calls them fake
Govt likely to hike electricity price once again
Bismah Maroof announces immediate retirement from international cricket
Malala expresses unwavering support for Gaza people
Selection committee dissolved over Pakistan women cricket team's poor performanc ..
Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz in police uniform at Chung police center
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 25 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 25 April 2024
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
More Stories From Miscellaneous
-
PDMA predicts gusty wind, rain with thunder, hails
2 days ago -
Iranian president Raisi given guard of honour at PM House
3 days ago -
Intellectuals, writers accolades Naseer Mirza on his literary contribution
4 days ago -
Bahawalpur Adabi Sangat hosts memorable mushaira
4 days ago -
Cattle farming vital to alleviate poverty in rural areas
4 days ago -
Pakistan: A land of tourism, archeological wonders
4 days ago
-
Transforming education sector: from job hunters to job creators
6 days ago -
Amjad Bobby remembered on 19th death anniversary for timeless contributions to music
10 days ago -
Legendary actor Nadeem’s 26 films released on Eid-ul-Fitr days in 50 years
11 days ago -
Besant Hall Cultural Centre to celebrate evening with Sanam Marvi on 26 April
11 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur presents program “Eidi Shidi”
14 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur to broadcast Eid programs
16 days ago