The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases should order personnel manning checkpoints, including those in the barangays, to allow the movement of animal doctors and their staff as long as they are wearing proper personal protective equipment, a party-list lawmaker on Sunday said.
Rep. Ronnie Ong of Ang Probinsyano party-list echoed the declaration of Agriculture Secretary William Dar that veterinarians should be exempt from the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
Ong said that special passes should be also issued to people who have pets that require medical attention.
Because of the lockdown, Ong said many pet dogs, cats and even essential livestock could become ill because veterinarians and their staff are not among those exempted from the ECQ.
“We have to treat our vets are part of our frontliners, not just our human doctors,” Ong, vice chairman of the House committee on rural development, stressed.
“The social media is abuzz with a lot of complaints of our kababayans who cannot take their pets to the vets because either the clinics are closed or they are being prevented to pass through checkpoints. This is very painful for people who regard their pets as family,” Ong said. Maricel V. Cruz
Ong said the pronouncement of Secretary Dar should provide clarity on the issue and the IATF must formally direct all personnel manning road blocks and checkpoints that vets are being exempted from the ECQ. People with pet emergencies should also be allowed to pass through checkpoints for them to bring their pets to the next nearest vet clinic or vet hospital.
Ong said that vets should be also allowed to conduct their work on livestock farms especially now that the threat of the Asian Swine Fever (ASF) and the Avian Flu is still not over.
Ong noted that the IATF needs to make clear instructions to all checkpoint officers to follow Secretary Dar’s announcement to exempt veterinarians from the enhanced Luzon-wide lockdown—whether they are farm, public or private veterinarians—because “they are healthcare workers too.”