By Calvin D. Cordova
CEBU CITY – The wearing of facemasks in public and in workplaces is now mandatory in Lapu-Lapu City, which has already shifted from enhanced to general community quarantine (GCQ).
The wearing of facemask by residents and workers was just one of the protocols that was stipulated in an Executive Order that Mayor Junard Ahong Chan issued last Sunday, May 17.
The local government of Lapu-Lapu, along with that of Cebu City and Mandaue City, had actually appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), to keep the city under ECQ.
But Lapu-Lapu was still downgraded to GCQ, while the cities of Cebu and Mandaue stayed under ECQ.
The EO stated that the public and workers may use washable or cloth-based facemasks to prevent possible shortage of surgical masks, which are highly needed by health workers and frontliners.
The city will still impose the 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew, while persons below 21 years old and above 60 years old will be “required to remain in their residences at all times.”
Those who are pregnant and those with immuno-deficiency, co-morbidities and other health risks were also required to stay at home.
The city will allow public transportation such as tricycle, tricycles, jeepneys and V-hire but with limited capacity.
Habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) will not be allowed.
Chan, however, said he will write the task force to allow the operation of habal-habal in the city.