Face masks are optional, cleanliness is mandatory — Market Authority

Food vendors in Carbon Public market now wear masks and have sanitizing alcohol in place as a measure against the #coronavirus disease. CDN Digital photo | Rosalie Abatayo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Susan Escarlan usually greets her customers with a welcoming smile as they approach her eatery at the Freedom Park at the Carbon Public Market here.

But on Thursday, March 12, 2020, Escarlan chose to greet them with “smiling eyes” instead as she has half of her face covered by a face mask.

Escarlan’s eatery is one of the go-to places of the students in the nearby universities and colleges who look seek affordable lunch fixes.

Read: The Right Price for an Empty Stomach

Wearing the face mask is among the measures that Escarlan and some vendors of Carbon Public Market have taken in view of the threat of the coronavirus disease and as recommended by the Cebu City Market Authority.

“Mosul-ob lang pod mi [og mask]. Naa na pod mi alcohol diri (We are now wearing masks and have sanitizing alcohols available here.),” Escarlan told CDN Digital.

City Market Administrator Jonil Matuguina, however, said the wearing of face masks is not mandatory for the vendors.

What is essential, Matuguina said, is for the vendors to keep their areas clean.

“We encourage them to wear masks but we also understand nga naay difficulty in obtaining mask karon. Kung naay masks nga masul-ob, mas maayo nga magsul-ob pero kung wala, mag-sanitize lang sa kamot ug manghunaw,” Matuguina said in a separate interview.

Matuguina said market authority personnel will continue to randomly inspect the stalls in order to check their sanitary practices.

Keeping their areas clean, Matuguina added, is more essential as the threat to health is not only the coronavirus but also other diseases that bore from dirty surroundings. /bmjo