The Department of Health (DOH) 7 (Central Visayas) will leave it to the region’s local government units (LGU) to assess if the new national government policy allowing children as young as five years old to go outdoors in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ (MGCQ).
“The latest issuance has been deliberated by all stakeholders at the level of the IATF. However, it has always been up to the different local government units to assess the applicability of such issuances to the realities in their areas,” DOH-7 medical program coordinator for infectious diseases Dr. Van Philip Baton said in a statement on Saturday.
He was referring to Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution 125, as announced by Malacañang on Friday, which lowers the age restrictions on people who can go outdoors.
Under the resolution, in areas under MGCQ and GCQ, except those under heightened restrictions, children aged five years and above can go outdoors with free air movement in parks, playgrounds, beaches, bike and hike trails, and tourist sites and attractions.
However, Baton defined outdoors as limited only to “parks, playgrounds, beaches, biking and hiking trails, outdoor tourist sites and attractions, as may be defined by the Department of Tourism, outdoor non-contact sports courts and venues, and al-fresco dining establishments in the previously mentioned areas.”
He said “mixed-use indoor/outdoor buildings and facilities, such as malls and similar establishments, are not included in the allowed outdoor areas for children.”
“In addition, children must be supervised by adults and observe minimum public health standards, such as wearing of face masks and social distancing,” he added.
Baton said the DOH maintains that minimum public health protocols have to be observed by all, especially because a significant portion of the community has not yet been vaccinated.
On Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, however, said that LGUs “may increase the above age restriction of children depending on the Covid-19 situation in their respective jurisdictions.”
Cebu City’s emergency operations center (EOC) chief implementer, Councilor Joel Garganera, said Friday the city would implement the new IATF resolution lowering the age of persons who could go outdoors to five years once the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases decreases.
Garganera said in a radio interview that the city has requested the IATF to give them until this month to bring down the total number of active Covid-19 cases before they entertain ideas of relaxing safety protocols.
The DOH-7 Covid-19 bulletin showed that this capital city has 1,005 active cases, with 111 new infections recorded on Friday.
Source: Philippines News Agency
