Office Disinfection

by Sarah Asis The numbers of confirmed cases daily are still rising at a worrying rate, and the COMELEC is committed to protect both its personnel and the transacting public from the insidious coronavirus, even as it gave assurance that the delivery of services will not be hampered. This Friday marks the 4th Friday since the Commission on Elections began on July 3 its rigorous conduct of weekly disinfection and decontamination of all its offices nationwide in an effort to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Special sanitation teams, armed with disinfectant sprays and in full PPE gear, do the rounds in all offices and departments. Furnitures and fixtures, and all commonly touched surfaces are sprayed with a disinfectant bleach solution. [fvplayer id=”1″] As a precautionary measure, commercial disinfectant sprays and other cleaning paraphernalia are provided in all offices for daily sanitation of surfaces. The weekly disinfection was announced to the public towards the end of June, through an advisory which stated that there will be no transactions with the public on the scheduled disinfection and decontamination day. All buildings occupied by the COMELEC, and its facilities and vehicles will have to go through this mandatory activity. The disinfection activity is crucial in ensuring everyone’s safety especially those in the Field Offices which engage in frontline services, including the issuance of voter’s certification which was resumed on July 15. This is in addition to the earlier directive to all COMELEC offices to be “COVID-19 ready” by installing glass windows or plastic sheet barriers and hand sanitation stations; daily disinfection of all office furniture and equipment; and posting of clear and visible signs about the wearing of face mask/shield, regular hand washing, physical distancing, and other preventive health measures. The COMELEC also enforces the “No Face Mask/Shield, No Transaction” policy as well strict physical distancing and limited number of people served per day.