DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Friday said the 24-hour ban on the sale and consumption of liquor and other alcoholic beverages stays within the general community quarantine (GCQ), or until April 30.
The mayor, however, said she is mulling over to tweak some regulations that would serve the interest of consumers, while sustaining the viability of business establishments, explaining that she is “thinking about striking a balance that would meet all the needs of stakeholders without sacrificing the basic public minimum health standards.”
Duterte-Carpio told the city government-ran Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) early this week how she could find ways at “how people can drink liquor without gathering, and at the same time allow our liquor businessmen to operate.”
“That’s what we have really been thinking about: To strike the right balance. It’s 100 percent certain that when liquor is within reach in sari-sari stores, after a day’s work and upon arriving at home, they would invite neighbors for a drink, that’s human nature. When people gather, Covid-19 would love it as it can jump from each of the participants of the drinking session,” she said.
The mayor mentioned a conversation with a friend who complained about Manila’s liquor ban and questioning its connection with the coronavirus disease. She told her friend whom the mayor did not identify though that health authorities, even from here, have validated reports of confirmed Covid positive patients who contracted the virus during drinking sprees.
Under her Executive Orders 12 and 12-A, the liquor ban shall take effect until May 31.
Meanwhile, City Hall announced that the People’s Republic of China donated medical apparatuses to the city’s primary health-care services, would be distributed to all barangays.
The city government received on Thursday from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines Baxtel Aneriod Sphygmomanometers with stethoscopes, sets of first-aid kit and umbrellas. Baxtel Aneriod Sphygmomanometers are used to measure blood pressure.
April Marie Dayap, head of the Davao City Investment and Promotion Center, said these items have been allocated to each of barangay health worker and barangay nutrition scholar in the city.
Barangay health centers would also receive two units of Primaplus compressor nebulizer, an apparatus to clear the airways of an asthma patient, one unit Baxtel Aneriod Sphygmomanometer with stethoscope, a weighing scale with height measurement (platform type) and a first-aid kit set.
Duterte-Carpio said the City Health Office and barangays have a total of 3,234 health workers, hired by either the city or the barangay.
Image credits: Gualberto M. Laput/PNA
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