Robredo: Why was Duque kept in the dark on new quarantine policy for travelers?

The government’s failure to get the approval of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on the policy scrapping mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated inbound travelers is bothersome, Vice President Leni Robredo said.

“That [Secretary Duque was not consulted] is surprising, if not bothersome. How can that happen?,” Robredo said in a press conference.

“Secretary Duque heads the health department and there is a health measure being implemented that he is unaware of? How is the process of making decisions then? Why are decisions being made when the Health Secretary is not aware of it?” she added.

Robredo made the remark after the Health chief said he was unaware of the new rule, which removes the requirement for quarantine in a facility provided that travelers test negative for COVID-19 and they come from green or low risk countries.

Duque is the chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the government’s policy making body against COVID-19, which made the decision on Wednesday.

In an earlier television interview, Duque had said, “I just want to put on record that I wasn’t part of the IATF that deliberated on this yesterday, because I was in a budget hearing with the Senate.”

“I was told that in some countries, they’re doing this now. But those countries can afford to do it because their national vaccination coverage is more than 70%, whereas we are only at 30%,” he added.

Robredo said that the government cannot go on flip-flopping policies amid the pandemic with lives on the line.

“We cannot afford this kind of roller coaster ride of lower number of cases only to become higher and our economy will be shut again,” she added.—LDF, GMA News

Robredo: Why was Duque kept in the dark on new quarantine policy for travelers?
Source: Filipino Viral News PH