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The Interagency Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) approved on Thursday, October 15, 2020, the adjustment of age-based home stay restrictions.
People ages 15 to 65 can now go out.
According to the IATF, local government units (LGUs) may impose a higher age limit for minors, depending on the Covid-19 situation in their respective jurisdictions.
Pursuant to Resolution No. 79, the IATF also updated the list of authorized persons outside their residences (Apor) to include Filipino workers abroad who return or repatriated and Filipinos abroad who return to their places of residence. home.
Other persons transported through the efforts of the national government in compliance with the necessary quarantine protocols with the consent of the receiving LGUs are also included.
Apor includes front-line health and emergency services personnel, government officials and government front-line personnel, duly authorized humanitarian assistance actors, people traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, people going to the airport to travel abroad and Anyone crossing zones for work or business is allowed into the destination zone and returning home.
More movement
The working group also updated its definitions of interzonal movement and intrazonal movement.
Interzonal movement is defined as the movement of people, goods, and services between provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities under different community quarantine classifications.
On the other hand, intrazonal movement refers to the movement of people, goods and services between provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities under the same community quarantine classification, without passing through an area placed in a different classification.
The IATF ordered the LGUs not to cover the workers, Apor and the establishments necessary in the application of their curfew ordinances.
LGUs were also urged to coordinate with each other to standardize curfew rules and relax curfew hours.
Executive order
In Cebu City, Mayor Edgardo Labella said he will issue an amended executive order that will adjust the age restrictions for the stay-at-home order in accordance with the recently released IATF guidelines.
However, Labella disagreed with the new IATF guideline allowing interzonal and intrazonal movements of no Apors to areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ (MGCQ).
Labella said border checkpoints will continue to be implemented despite the IATF guideline allowing interzonal and intrazonal movements.
Cebu City is under MGCQ until the end of October.
Labella said she will also continue to strictly prohibit sports activities that may attract a crowd.
Subject to conditions, the IATF approved the holding of a beach volleyball tournament by the Philippine Super League under a “sports bubble concept”, the operation of off-track horse racing betting stations in areas under GCQ or lower, and the operation of licensed cabins. and conducting cockfighting activities in areas under MGCQ or lower.
“At this point, I am not willing to broadcast, nor allow it in the territorial jurisdiction of Cebu City,” Labella said.
Hotels, resorts
In Lapu-Lapu City, Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan welcomed the recent decision by the IATF to allow people aged 15 to 65 to leave their homes.
Chan said that with the recent order, hotels, resorts and other tourist establishments in his city are now able to implement less strict quarantine and health protocols when dealing with guests.
Chan previously applied for permission from the IATF to allow minors and elderly people to leave their homes with their families when visiting resorts or hotels in the city of Lapu-Lapu.
But Chan said that even with the more relaxed quarantine protocols introduced by the IATF, he will continue to require all his constituents to carry a quarantine pass when leaving the house.
Minors and the elderly whose families have booked accommodation at hotels and resorts in the city are exempt from quarantine.
pass.
The Cebu Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants Association (HRRAC) welcomed the age adjustment and said that the IATF move would help businesses recover, especially in the tourism sector.
“This will pave the way for our economy to recover. We also advise our members not to be complacent in terms of health protocols, ”HRRAC President Carlo Suarez told SunStar Cebu.
Suárez said that there must always be strict health protocols to regain customer trust, which remains low due to fear of the virus.
Discipline
For his part, the mayor of the city of Mandaue, Jonas Cortes, asked voters to observe the discipline even though the IATF has relaxed its protocols.
“At the end of the day, it’s not really about who or what activities are allowed, but whether people have the discipline to follow the prescribed guidelines and the willingness to cooperate with the government effort,” Cortés said.
The Central Visayas Department of Health (DOH 7) said it respects the IATF’s decision to adjust the ages covered by the stay-at-home order.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson for DOH 7, said the most vulnerable population continues to be the very young and the very old, and people with comorbidities.
“Perhaps on a positive note, by allowing those under 21 but not under 15 out, we develop in them a shared responsibility to stay healthy. By following health standards, they protect themselves and their families from getting sick, ”he said. / PR, JJL, GMC / JKV, KFD, WBS, WORK
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