The Department of Health (DOH) said it is now investigating reports of an individual who was allegedly allowed to leave the quarantine facility before even completing the mandatory quarantine period.

"The DOH is aware of a circulating social media post about an alleged individual who violated quarantine protocols," the Health department said in a statement.

"We are still investigating the case and coordinating with concerned offices to further determine the veracity of the claims in the said post," it added.

Reports made rounds on social media that an individual, who came from the United States, skipped the mandatory quarantine upon arrival in the country. The person was allegedly positive for COVID-19 and has since infected others after attending a party.

The DOH, meanwhile, reminded the public to only share reports from reliable sources.

“We remind everyone to only share verified information from official sources to avoid confusing the public,” it said.

“This holiday season, let us all work together to contain the spread of COVID-19 by continuously adhering to the minimum public health standards and getting vaccinated,” it added.

'Not the time to relax'

In a separate statement, the DOH warned the public that “non-adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines and policies constitute violation of Republic Act No. 11332” or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.

Violators of this law shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P20,000 but not more than P50,000 or “imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the proper court.”

“The DOH appeals to everyone now is not the time to relax and deliberately put others in danger. The entire nation worked so hard to keep our cases down,” it said.

“Following minimum public health standards however uncomfortable at times, our healthcare and frontline workers working overtime to save lives, our LGUs and the rest of the government carefully crafting policies so that we can balance health and economy—these are just some of the sacrifices we make so we can recover from the pandemic, return to work, and safely open up schools, and establishments,” it added.