The government has further relaxed restrictions against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Metro Manila and other areas in general community quarantine (GCQ), allowing cinemas, driving schools, game arcades, museums and other establishments to reopen.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. on Friday said the reopening of more businesses was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Limited tourist attractions, such as natural and theme parks and historical landmarks, were also allowed to resume business.
In its recent meeting, the task force also agreed to allow the holding of meetings, conferences and exhibitions, and limited social events at establishments accredited by the Department of Tourism.
Roque said according to the task force, the easing of quarantine rules and reopening of business establishments would allow more people to return to work and help revive the economy, which has taken a beating from the pandemic.
Roque said the new regulation will take effect starting Monday, February 15, following the issuance of the guidelines by the Department of Health (DoH) and local government units.
Roque said religious gatherings can have 50-percent attendance.
The task force eased rules on mass gatherings following the plea of Catholic Church
officials to raise the allowed capacity for religious events in time for Lent.
Places of worship were previously allowed 30-percent capacity in GCQ areas and 50-percent capacity in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles said existing health and safety protocols will apply during the observance of Ash Wednesday on February 17.
As a precaution against the coronavirus last year, Catholic prelates sprinkled ash on devotees’ heads instead of the traditional cross mark on the forehead.
The Archdiocese of Manila said the faithful will be allowed to burn palm branches at home and use the ashes to sprinkle on family members on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.
About 80 percent of the Philippine population is Catholic.
On Friday, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the DoH released guidelines for limited face-to-face classes for medicine-related courses.
Covered by the joint circular are students taking up medicine, nursing, medical technology, medical laboratory science, physical therapy, midwifery, and public health, in schools under the GCQ and MGCQ.
The circular stressed that “interns shall not be allowed to rotate in the emergency room, out-patient department and Covid-19 wards but only be allowed to rotate in.
The two agencies said limited face-to-face classes should not be mandatory.
Sen. Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, backed the government’s decision to gradually reopen colleges for face-to-face classes.
“For as long as it is safe, limited, and complies with health protocols, I see no problem in the joint decision of CHEd and DoH to slowly resume classroom learning,” Villanueva said.
“Some skills should be learned hands on and in person. There are limits to distance learning. The practical application of theories will have to be done in a laboratory or workshop setting,” he said.
But face-to-face instruction should not be at the expense of the student’s health and wellbeing, Villanueva said.
A member of Octa Research said the government should consider the presence of Covid-19 variants in lifting restrictions in cinemas and other leisure establishments.
In a text message to The Manila Times, Dr. Michael Tee said: “I trust that in formulating these guidelines, our national leaders will take into account the impact of new variants that are causing much concern in the international public health community.”
“I wonder how that can be achieved in closed spaces such as traditional movie theaters and gaming arcades. How can you enforce distancing when the lights go out in cinemas?” Tee said.
The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, warned nations against rash reopenings despite a fall in new Covid-19 cases.
Mass Covid-19 vaccination programs are being ramped up in many countries in the race against more contagious variants, and governments are urging populations to continue to cope with closures as the vaccination campaigns move ahead.
But while new cases and deaths have come down in some places, a WHO official said it was by no means time to ease up.
“The decline in cases conceals increasing numbers of outbreaks and community spread involving variants of concern,” said WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge.
“At this point, the overwhelming majority of European countries remain vulnerable,” he added, pointing out the “thin line between the hope of a vaccine and a false sense of security”.
More than a million cases are registered every week across the 53 member states in the UN agency’s European region, which includes several in Central Asia.
But the number of reported cases has been falling over the past four weeks, and deaths have also been declining over the past two weeks.
Worldwide deaths have climbed to nearly 2.4 million, with the United States the hardest-hit, while the Middle East surpassed 100,000 fatalities on Thursday.
Vaccine distribution has varied widely worldwide, though overall more than 155.7 million people in at least 91 countries have been inoculated so far, according to an Agence France-Presse tally.
WITH JOHN ERIC MENDOZA, JAVIER JOE ISMAEL, RED MENDOZA AND AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Source: ManilaTimes
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