Mayor Benjamin Magalong has declared Baguio City under citywide community quarantine from March 16 to April 15 to stem the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) menace.
The mayor today March 16, 2020 signed Executive Order No. 065-20 after meeting with the city council led by Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan to firm up the parameters for the community quarantine status.
The mayor said the quarantine would not mean a lockdown as people’s movement will not be totally restricted but mechanisms will be put in place to tighten preventive, control and response measures among which the requirement for health declaration forms to facilitate contact tracing when the situation calls for it.
Among the salient provisions is the imposition of more aggressive checkpoints and curfew, extension of class suspension of classes until April 15 and the shortened operation of commercial establishments in the city.
The surge and continuous arrival of travellers from Manila in Baguio since March 13 and the rising incidence of COVID-19 transmission nationwide are among the reasons that prompted the mayor to make the decision Sunday, March 15.. – Aileen P. Refuerzo