Filipino mayors oppose easing of COVID-19 curbs

MANILA: Mayors of the 16 cities and one town that compose Metro Manila rejected the scheduled reopening on Monday of “enclosed” areas like cinemas and gaming arcades which aimed to perk up the economy batered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Edwin Olivarez of Paranaque City, the head of the Metro Manila Council, said they would ask the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to reconsider its decision, saying they were not “properly consulted” on the reopening of more businesses in areas where the general community quarantine ( GCQ) or lockdown is imposed.

In particular, Olivarez said their objection rested mainly on the reopening of enclosed areas like cinemas and gaming arcades, which could increase COVID 19 infections, based on warnings from health experts.

According to experts, the virus that causes the severe respiratory ailment is more easily transmitted in enclosed areas, especially those that do not have proper ventilation, Olivarez pointed out.

“Cinemas are enclosed spaces and you spend more than one hour in an enclosed and air-conditioned area,” he told a radio interview. “We have apprehensions about opening establishments in enclosed spaces, based on our consultations with health experts and our own epidemiological units.”

The same is true with the IATF decision for the reopening of gaming arcades because children living in GCQ areas are not even allowed to leave their homes, Olivarez said, adding that only those allowed are in the 18 to 65 age category.

Under the IATF decision, residents of Metro Manila and other GCQ areas may now watch starting on Monday, movies in cinemas as well as visit museums, libraries, national tourist attractions and historical landmarks.

Also to be allowed are the reopening and expansion of operations of driving schools, meetings, conferences and exhibitions and limited social events at establishments accredited by the Department of Tourism.

In addition, the IATF approved the request of religious leaders to increase from 30 to 50 per cent the atendance in churches on condition that health protocols be strictly implemented like the wearing of face masks and face shields as well as the observance of social distancing.

Aside from Metro Manila, the GCQ with effect until Feb.28, likewise covers the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Northern Luzon highlands, the province of Batangas in Southern Luzon, Tacloban City in the Visayas, Davao City, the hometown of Duterte, as well as Iligan City and the provinces of Davao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in Mindanao.