By Glazyl Masculino BACOLOD CITY - Some banks in Negros Occidental have shorten their banking hours, and have implemented a “no mask, no entry policy” among their employees and clients, starting March 23, to mitigate exposure to the coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19). (BANKER’S CLUB OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, INC. / FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN) This was stated in Board Resolution No. 2020-002 signed by 11 members of the Board of the Bankers’ Club of Negros Occidental, Inc. led by Mark Ojera, and issued on March 21, following one confirmed positive case of COVID-19 here. The Board of Directors, in the said resolution, encouraged their member banks to shorten banking hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. until further notice. The resolution also said that employees and clients of all member-banks will be required to wear face masks to be granted entry into the bank premises. They shall temporarily take off their face masks as part of the security protocol by bank guards prior to entry. Makeshift masks, such as handkerchief masks not handheld, and the like shall be accepted in the light of the shortage of medical-grade face masks in the country, as stated in the resolution. They cited in the resolution that Mayor Evelio Leonardia has declared through an Executive Order that persons from abroad, Metro Manila, and areas with local transmission are considered Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs), requiring them to undergo home quarantine for 14 days. The resolution also stated that Bacolod is now under general community quarantine, restricting the entry of persons traveling by land, sea, and air to and from the city. Meanwhile, Leonardia, in a press conference at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday, said that the city government has received a copy of the resolution. Leonardia welcomed the move of the bankers’ club to help prevent the spread of the infectious disease. “We find this meritorious and reasonable. Let this serve as notice to the public especially those dealing with the banks,” he said.