Metro Manila bans minors at shopping malls

MANILA: The 17 mayors of the 16 cities and one town that compose Metro Manila have heeded the advice of medical experts and unanimously passed a resolution banning minors from going to shopping malls during the holiday season to help contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a senior Cabinet official confirmed on Thursday.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said the ban also covered minors from atending the traditional pre-dawn masses (called “simbang gabi” in Filipino) in Catholic churches starting Dec.16 until Christmas Eve, Dec.24 also as a health precaution.

But to accommodate those allowed to attend the pre-dawn masses, the Metro Manila

Council likewise shortened the curfew hours from midnight to 3am although there is a limit to the number of those present inside the churches, according to Ano.

“I salute the mayors of the NCR (National Capital Region or the official name of Metro Manila ) I really appreciate their decision, said Ano, a retired military general and also the deputy chief of the National Task Force Against COVID-19).

In particular, Ano praised the mayors for erring on the side of caution amid growing evidence from medical experts that children could be “silent” carriers of the virus and as such, their movements should be limited.

Officials said the mayors met on Tuesday night and decided to maintain the ban following consultations with representatives from the Philippine Pediatric Society and other health experts on the issue.

Under the resolution, Ano pointed out that only residents aged 18 to 65 are allowed to go outside their homes despite the relaxation of the health protocols when President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metro Manila and other selected areas under the less stricter general community quarantine (GCQ).

This developed as Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the head of the COVID-19 task force, called on government officials to stop flaunting public health measures, pointing out the government wanted to bring new infections down to three digits by the end of the year.

Lorenzana called the atention of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu province in the Visayas and Mayor Benjamin Magalong of the resort city of Baguio in the Northern Luzon highlands for the alleged violations of the ban of mass gatherings as well as the mandatory use of face masks and face shields.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health recorded 1,438 new virus infections, pushing the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide to 434,357, with the death toll totalling 8,436 and recoveries at a high 399,005.