PNP band plays wind instruments in stadium crowded with LSIs

The Philippine National Police over the weekend sent a police band to perform for the thousands of locally displaced individuals at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The situation at the stadium has already become a cause for concern, as social distancing does not seem to be observed among the 7,500 or so Filipinos waiting for a ride home to their provinces via the government's Hatid Tulong program. 

Now, a photo taken by Reuters journalist Eloisa Lopez on Saturday showed the PNP musicians adding to the numbers in the stadium, their masks pulled down so they could blow into wind instruments—amid the threat of COVID-19, an infectious disease that is spread through respiratory droplets and possibly by even smaller airborne particles.

According to Lopez, the band played a Rey Valera song.

Inside, a PNP band played a Rey Valera song... pic.twitter.com/2pBa37jqN2

— Eloisa Lopez (@eloisaalopez) July 25, 2020

The government has stressed that guidelines against the spread of COVID-19 must be observed by the public, including physical distancing and the wearing of masks. 

According to the World Health Organization, the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, "can occur through direct, indirect, or close contact with infected people through infected secretions such as saliva and respiratory secretions or their respiratory droplets, which are expelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or sings."

WHO also acknowledged scientists' concerns that the virus may be carried by particles smaller than droplets, but stressed that transmission by droplets is dominant and stopped short of saying that it spreads through the air. 

According to The Guardian, researchers in the UK are currently measuring the quantity and size of droplets and aerosol particles that can be generated by singing and using wind instruments. The study is being carried out after some outbreaks of the disease were linked to choirs.

The PNP currently has 2,008 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and recorded its 10th fatality last Wednesday.

The Philippines currently has 80,448 confirmed cases of the illness, with 26,110 recoveries and 1,932 deaths. — BM, GMA News