The Department of Tourism (DOT) said Thursday, Dec. 30, that it has coordinated with concerned authorities to validate reports about an individual who was allegedly allowed to leave a quarantine hotel before finishing the prescribed quarantine period.
The issue spread like wildfire on social media after a Twitter user claimed that a “young lady” who supposedly came back recently from the United States evaded quarantine protocol.
Angered netizens could not help themselves but express disappointment as the alleged quarantine violator supposedly tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and infected many people after going into a party.
“The hotel in question is currently being investigated and has been served a Notice to Explain (NTE), directing the establishment to submit its response to the allegations within three days,” the DOT said in a statement.
Meanwhile, establishments were reminded that their failure to comply with the mandated health and safety protocols of the DOT, Department of Health (DOH), and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) may lead to criminal penalties of fines and/or imprisonment, and administrative penalties such as suspension or revocation of accreditation depending on the gravity of the offense.
The DOH recently bared that there was an uptick of cases in Metro Manila as independent research group OCTA disclosed that the positivity rate in the capital region increased to over five percent last Monday, the first time that it happened since October.
From 200 daily cases, OCTA believes that the new infections in Metro Manila could go as high as 1,500 in the coming weeks due to the slight surge.
However, experts have yet to determine whether the uptick was caused by the holiday season or the more contagious Omicron variant.