Baguio City – Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong ordered the investigation of a group of actors conducting a film shooting activity in the Summer Capital after 10 members turned positive of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The mayor said the group is composed of a hundred individuals led by actor Arjo Atayde. Ten members of the group including Atayde turned positive of COVID-19 per result of RT-PCR conducted Sunday, according to the mayor.
The mayor said the group was given a permit to stay and conduct its shooting activity since last month with the commitment that they will be staying in a bubble – meaning no one should be going in and out of the city during the duration of the shooting.
They were already in the city since last month before the implementation of enhanced community quarantine in the National Capital Region.
“However, we found out that there were instances where crew members go home and come back to the city without passing through our triage so they are not tested,” the mayor revealed. He said the group also failed to comply on their commitment for a monthly testing.
“For some reason, Mr. Atayde left his group yesterday (Monday) without informing us although I’m trying to reach out to him to instruct him on what to do with his group left in the city,” the mayor said.
He said the other nine members of the group who were found positive of COVID-19 were already isolated while the remaining 90 were already quarantined and well-guarded subject for swab testing in five days.
The mayor said the city will implement stricter monitoring of protocols for the next groups that will be conducting their film shooting to ensure that health measures and community quarantine guidelines are observed.
(Source: Public Information Office – Baguio, photo courtesy of BCPO- Station 3)