Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered all police commanders to maintain cleanliness in the police stations and offices as part of the lines of defense amid the threat of the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Eleazar issued the order as more policemen were infected by the coronavirus, the recent was the 82 personnel of the Talipapa Police Station in Quezon City and the lockdown of a police station in Iloilo due to infection of 20 policemen.

“Our police stations must always be clean not just for compliance with the Intensified Cleanliness Policy (ICP), but also for the health and safety of all our personnel,” said Eleazar.

Cleanliness in the police stations and offices is one of the policies implemented by Eleazar under the ICP when he assumed the top police post in May this year. He has been conducting surprise inspections across the country to check on the compliance of police commanders.

Eleazar said that it is also important that the minimum health safety protocol is observed in the police station, saying it is a tried-and-tested deterrent to infection from the virus.

Based on the latest PNP data, a total of 30,156 PNP personnel have been infected by the virus since last year, 82 of them died.

“With the Delta variant rising in the country, we should be more careful and should strictly observe the rules to protect ourselves,” said Eleazar.

The Delta variant was described by health experts as more transmissible and was tagged as the reason behind the massive upsurge of cases and deaths in India. Several countries in Asia, particularly Indonesia, have started implementing stricter measures to prevent the spread of the new variant.

In the Philippines, Metro Manila will be again placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine form August 6 to 20 purposely to contain the spread of the virus.