San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora assured the public on Friday that the city is fully prepared for the strict implementation of the Alert Level 3 quarantine classification in Metro Manila starting on Saturday, Oct. 16.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Zamora explained that the local government unit (LGU) is taking extra caution in the opening of cinemas which were not allowed to operate due to quarantine restrictions under Alert Level 4.
"We have been vaccinating thousands of people every day in the Greenhills Cinemas and we have never encountered a case of transmission among the vaccination teams," Zamora said.
The LGU have previously coordinated with mall and cinema owners as they convert the city's cinemas into vaccination hubs to boost the city's vaccination efforts. The theatres were used as the vaccination sites for San Juan vaccinees who are non-residents of the city.
Zamora said that he has personally ensured that cinemas in San Juan are compliant with the minimum health and safety protocols mandated by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
He said the city government made sure that there is proper ventilation and strict checking of cinema-goers' vaccination IDs in theatres.
He added that as of Oct. 14, the city has 311 active COVID-19 cases, a 72% decrease from the Sept. 16 tally of 1,123 in just 28 days.