Eleazar urges local execs in the provinces to prepare amid COVID upsurge in NCR
Retired police general and senatorial aspirant Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar urged the local chief executives in the provinces to start the necessary preparations to protect their constituents from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) amid the upsurge of cases that has been recorded especially in Metro Manila in the past days.
Metro Manila will be under COVID Alert Level 3 as part of the measures to contain the spread of the virus, especially with the confirmation of 14 cases of omicron variant infection.

"The implementation of stricter health protocols in Metro Manila should serve as a call to all governors, mayors and barangay captains in the provinces to start preparing and implementing measures to protect your constituents and your territories from possible upsurge of COVID cases,” said Eleazar.
“The best prevention against COVID is early preparations and it must start now,” he added.
Eleazar also called on healthcare facilities in areas close to the National Capital Region (NCR) should be prepared by now in case COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) overflow amid the threat of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
He appealed to the Department of Health to beef up the capabilities of the hospitals in Central Luzon (Region 3) and Calabarzon (Region 4A) by treating them as one “bubble” with NCR like what the government did to contain the Delta variant.
Eleazar made the call following the remark of DOH Secretary Francisco Duque that a nationwide shift to Alert Level 3 is not yet being considered by the government despite the recent spike of cases.
The NCR has been placed under Alert Level 3, the third strictest level in the five-point quarantine system in the country, from January 3 to 15 due to the significant increase in the number of cases.
Eleazar, who previously led the national police’s anti-COVID task force, said that he respects the metric system being followed by the government in adjusting the Alert Level nationwide. However, he noted that the DOH should also consider the speed at which Omicron can spread to the population.
“Let us be proactive if we want to beat Omicron as soon as possible. We should learn from the delta variant experience and we should be putting up our defenses right now,” Eleazar said.