A number of government offices have been placed under lockdown in a bid to mitigate the transmission of coronavirus disease among its employees.
They would also utilize the temporary closure of offices to disinfect the premises.
Senate
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said that the upper chamber will be on lockdown from March 17 to March 23 after 24 personnel tested positive for COVID-19.
The next plenary session will resume on March 24, which will be their last, before they take a two-month recess.
Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri said that their neighboring GSIS building has 80 cases of COVID-19.
The GSIS head office in Pasay City was closed from March 12 to 16 for disinfection operations.
House of Representatives
The lower chamber also imposed a lockdown from March 18 to March 21 in view of the “alarming” increase of cases in Metro Manila and as added precautionary measures.
Scheduled committee meetings, public hearings and other events will be held through Zoom and livestreaming platforms.
Department of Labor and Employment
The central office of DOLE in Intramuros, as well as its other office in BF Condominium, will be on lockdown from March 17 to March 22 for disinfection purposes.
Its office in Antonino Building in Kalaw, Manila will also be closed for the same reason.
DOLE said that safety and health measures will be undertaken after three of their employees tested positive for COVID-19.
A skeletal workforce will report for essential duty on March 19.
The National Police Commission
NAPOLCOM also placed its central office under lockdown after some of its employees tested positive for the virus. It will be from March 17 to March 19.
It said that a receiving personnel will be at the Ground Floor lobby to serve its clients and the public whose transactions is to file documents.
Its office work will resume on March 22.
People’s Television Network
PTV-4 also announced that its head office will undergo an “extensive and thorough disinfection” as safety and precautionary measures amid the rising cases in the country.
The network’s flagship programs, Laging Handa’s Public Briefing and Ulat Bayan, will be back on air on March 22.
A full resumption of PTV-4’s regular programming will be announced separately.
“Meantime, the network assures to continue serving the public’s need for news and information by constantly and continuously keeping its Facebook and social media pages updated with the latest developments,” it said.
Bureau of Immigration Office
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) Office in Manila will be closed until Wednesday.
This, after BI Commissioner Jaime Morente extended the closure of the main office to conduct a more thorough disinfection and “to avoid intermittent delivery of services to the public and ensure that the Bureau’s employees in the safest possible workplace.”
The office was initially supposed to close from March 15 to 16 only “for thorough sanitation and disinfection.”
