Malacañang has reminded the public to be responsible mallgoers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) now that age restrictions are lifted in the said establishments.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement as malls started to allow children to enter the establishment after the government's pandemic task force decided to downgrade the National Capital Region (NCR) to Alert Level 2 starting November 5 to 21, 2021.

In his press briefing on Monday, November 8, Roque reminded the public to be responsible mallgoers so they do not turn malling into a superspreader event.

"Hindi po dahilan ito para maging superspreaders yung ating malling. Pupwede naman pong maiwasan 'yan sa pamamagitan po ng mask, hugas, at iwas (This is not an excuse to turn malling into supersreader events. We can avoid this by wearing our face masks, washing our hands, and observe physical distancing)," he said.

"Importante po yung iwas dahil alam naman natin na kapag hindi tayo umiiwas, eh mas madali po talagang mahawa ng COVID-19 (Physical distancing is very important because we know that without it, we can easily catch COVID-19)," he added.

Roque reiterated that the IATF allowed children outdoors to help them with their physical and mental health after being confined in their households for more than a year.

"Binuksan po natin ang ating mga malls sa mga kabataan dahil, unang-una, para sa public health benefits nito sa kabataan at para rin sa ekonomiya na yung mga pamilya ay makapagpunta na sama-sama sa malls (We opened the malls to the children for its public health benefits to the kids and to help the economy as families will now go to the malls)," he said.

"Ang aking panawagan po, ang panawagan ng ating Pangulong Duterte, para po makabalik-buhay tayo, importante po sumunod tayo sa minimum health standards (My appeal and President Duterte's appeal to you is follow the minimum health standards so we can go back to our normal lives)," he added.

Meanwhile, the Palace official reminded mall owners to strictly enforce minimum public health standards to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"Katungkulan niyo po na ipatupad ang mga minimum health standards. 'Pag hindi po kayo tumupad, eh tataas na naman ang mga kaso, sasarado na naman ang mga malls, marami na namang mawawalan ng hanapbuhay (It is your duty to enforce these minimum health standards. If you don't, the number of cases will rise, we will have to close malls again, and a lot of people will lose their jobs)," he said.

"Hinihingi po natin ang kooperasyon ng lahat nang patuloy pong magbukas ang ating ekonomiya (We ask for everybody's cooperation so we can fully reopen our economy)," he added.

Under Alert Level 2, businesses are allowed to operate at 50-percent indoor capacity for fully vaccinated individuals and those below the age of 18 even if they are unvaccinated. They are likewise allowed to operate at 70-percent venue capacity.

Last week, Malacañang urged business owners to strictly enforce the "No vaccine, no entry" policy, saying their business will be affected if the number of COVID-19 cases in the country would spike again.