Amid the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), some evacuees from the Taal volcano eruption remain at crowded evacuation centers without observing social distancing.
Social distancing, or keeping about a meter distance between two persons in public places, is highly recommended by the national government and health authorities to prevent the virus from spreading.
The Batangas Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that two months after the volcano’s major eruption, some 800 families which have been permanently displaced from Pulo, or the Volcano Island, remain in crowded evacuation sites in Laurel, Talisay, and Ibaan towns while they wait for a permanent settlement courtesy of the local government.
Some evacuees stay in modular tents but they all share common bathrooms and crowded mess halls.
Some parts of the evacuation centers are also without water or electricity.
With travel restrictions due to the Luzon-wide lockdown, another anticipated concern is the flow of donation and relief goods for these evacuees.
The Taal volcano alert level was downgraded yesterday by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) from Alert Level 2 to 1 due to the “overall decreasing trend in the level of monitoring parameters.”
But Phivolcs pointed out that “Alert Level 1 means that the volcano is still in abnormal condition and should not be interpreted that unrest has ceased or that the threat of an eruption has disappeared.” (Jojo Mangahis)