Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 10) — The Commission on Elections on Wednesday announced a 14-day closure of all its offices in Intramuros, Manila following coronavirus infections discovered among some of its employees.
The poll body said its Main Office in Intramuros, as well as the Offices of the Regional Election Director of the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa, will be closed from Thursday, March 11, until March 24.
“The temporary closure of offices is being implemented as a precautionary measure, to prevent the further spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus, in view of reports of documented recent transmission of the COVID-19 disease among employees,” Comelec said. It did not disclose how many employees caught the virus.
While the office of the regional election director of Mimaropa is affected, the Comelec assured continued preparations for the plebiscite scheduled this Saturday on the law dividing Palawan into three provinces.
Under the law, the plebiscite should be conducted on the second Monday of May 2020, but the Comelec had it suspended due to the pandemic. In October last year, the inter-agency task force against COVID-19 allowed the conduct of the plebiscite subject to health protocols.
Meanwhile, Comelec said work will also remain unhampered for the May 2022 national elections, as well as other services. It said its offices can still be reached during regular working hours through their official e-mail addresses and other online communication platforms, including social media.
The country has been recording a spike in COVID-19 cases, which experts say could be driven by the more transmissible variants first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, as well as “pandemic fatigue.” A total of 44,470 patients are currently ill with coronavirus as of Wednesday – the highest number of active cases recorded by the country since October.
