Lahug officials order Sunday closure of establishments to prevent COVID-19 spread

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Starting this Sunday, February 14, residents of Barangay Lahug in Cebu City will have to stay at home.

There is no reason for them to go out since establishments here have been ordered closed for the day by barangay officials.

Barangay Captain Hazel Ann Muaña-Empleo said they decided to further restrict the movement of their residents on Sundays after their barangay logged at least 70 active cases of the coronavirus disease as of Saturday, February 13.

Empleo said that the Sunday closure of all establishments that are located within the barangay was an addition to stricter health protocols which they implemented since last month.

Lahug barangay officials passed a resolution on January 12, 2021 which imposes a mandatory stay-at-home order for those who are 15-years-old and below and seniors who are over 65-years old.  The policy also applies to pregnant women and those facing health risks.

Those, who will be going out of their homes, are required to carry quarantine passes while activities will only be allowed with 50 percent of the venue’s capacity being occupied.  Fiesta activities, on the other hand, remains prohibited.

Barangay residents are also advised to comply with the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

Since last month, Empleo said that they decide to close their public market on Sundays to encourage residents to stay at home.

Empleo said that starting this week, the mandatory Sunday closure will already apply to all establishments operating within their premise.

“Nasugdan nani sya, ang among resolution niadto, diba January 12 man to sya. Ang kining mandatory closure kay karon na gyud, kay amo paman gu’ng giobserve sa mga previous Sundays ba. Ang giclose ra gyud namo at first kay katong market but then we’ve decided…the council decided nga i-all establishments nalang gyud.” she stated.

(The implementation of restrictions was specified in the barangay resolution that was passed on January 12.  The mandatory closure of all establishments here will be implemented starting this week because we decided to first observe the effects of closing down selected establishments here on Sundays. At first, we had our public market closed on Sundays and later on the barangay council decided to also include other establishments here.)

“Mandatory closure na gyud tas all establishments”, she added.

(What we are implementing now is the mandatory closure for all establishments.) / dcb