President Rodrigo Duterte recalled on Monday the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases allowing children 10 to 14 years old to go outside their homes in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) areas.

This means individuals 14 to 65 years old are the only ones who can leave their homes in MGCQ areas.

“Ang akin (To me it is) is a precaution because there is or there was or is a [variant] discovered in the Cordillera that is very similar to the [variant] dito sa (in the) United Kingdom,” Duterte said in a pre-recorded speech on Monday night.

He was referring to the 50 confirmed cases of the new Covid-19 variant detected in Bontoc in Mountain Province and La Trinidad in Benguet.

“Takot lang ako kasi itong bagong (I’m just scared because this new) strain strikes the young children,” he said, noting that the original strain found it harder to infect children than adults. “Itong original na Covid (strain) hardly if at all na wala kang marinig na may bata. Meron (This original Covid strain hardly if at all you won’t hear about kids getting infected. There are) one or two, and you can count it by the fingers of your hands,” Duterte added.

Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said that  children from 10 to 14 years old residing in MGCQ areas can leave their homes accompanied by an adult starting February 1.

On Monday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez defended allowing children to go out, saying that it is necessary to boost spending.

“Our principle here is that family expenditure accounts for 30 to 50 percent in commercial areas,” Lopez said.

He called on Metro Manila mayors to consider easing the age restrictions to restimulate economic activities.