BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin Magalong has ordered the reimposition of a temporary liquor ban in the city effective Monday and 14-day hard lockdown in two problematic areas.
The decision stemmed from findings that one of the causes of the spike of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases was the uncontrolled drinking sprees engaged in by residents at a slaughterhouse area.
"It seems that we never learned from our past experience on the dangers posed by overindulging in alcohol. When we indulge, we do not anymore care about the health protocols so things lead to serious consequences like this clustering of cases that we now have in that area," the mayor said.
A total of 38 cases have so far been recorded in the site occupied mostly by abattoir workers. From one case, it was spread to others who participated in a drinking spree. In Sunday's statistics, 10 were the recent cases in the said area alone.
"It is alarming considering how delicate their job is," the mayor said.
This is the third time Magalong has issued a temporary ban on the sale and consumption of liquor and other alcoholic beverages in the whole city.
The declarations were a result of the findings based on data analysis from contact tracing that Covid-19 cases came from drinking spree where participants deliberately disregard the safety protocols, sharing one "shot glass" in drinking.
Magalong also ordered a hard lockdown on some sub-villages of the slaughterhouse compound and at Lourdes Extension preventing people from going out of their homes during the period.
A total of 43 cases were logged on Sunday, with 10 of them coming from the slaughterhouse compound.
The 33 cases are a result of the extensive contact tracing system of the city government being close contacts of previous cases. The eight are symptomatic cases who underwent testing after seeking medical assistance while two are a result of the expanded testing. (PNA)
