Cebu City Councilor and Emergency Operations Center head Joel Garganera. (File photo)
CEBU CITY – To sustain the gains in containing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the city government here has disallowed children 15 years old and below from entering supermarkets and grocery stores starting on Monday (November 22).
Councilor Joel Garganera, Emergency Operations Center (EOC) head, said in a radio interview Thursday that the city government will issue a directive that will formalize the recommendation of the local Inter-Agency Task Force that was agreed upon during a meeting with supermarket and grocery store owners on Wednesday.
Garganera said there is no distinction whether such minor is vaccinated or not, stressing that children should not be exposed to the harm brought by the coronavirus.
The vaccination rollout for children and adolescents 12 to 17 years old started in Cebu last Monday.
Garganera said due to the limited space in grocery stores and supermarkets, people tend to jam-pack these establishments, adding that the only way to lessen the crowd size is to leave children outside.
The EOC, he said, has noted that closed and crowded establishments are among the primary venues of Covid-19 transmission next to households.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, Cebu City Health Department chief, said the city government will look for more inoculation sites for the pediatric population.
The city currently has two vaccination sites for minors -- at the Southwestern University Phinma and Robinsons Cybergate in the North Reclamation Area. (PNA)
