Baguio eases protocols

CITY HALL BEAT
Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY eased up some of its quarantine restrictions amid its General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status.
This is in preparation for gradually increasing the operational capacity of permitted industries in the city within the limits allowed by the national government.
    In executive order 24, series of 2021 issued Feb. 21 by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, curfew time was adjusted to 12a.m. to 4 a.m. while liquor ban hours was shortened to 10 p.m. to 10a.m.
    This took effect last Feb. 22.
    In executive order 26-21, the allowed seating capacity for religious services has been increased to 50 percent of the capacity of the venue starting Feb. 28.
    This is subject to the following conditions:
1. Limited to religious services/worship;
2. Written approval from LGU (previous permits will be honored);
3. Designation of roving health protocol officer/s; and
4. Signs and markers on health protocols shall be installed within the premises.
    This is in compliance with Resolution No. 99-2021 issued by the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
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The city government will revoke the work resumption permits of construction companies that do not adhere to the minimum health and safety standards against Covid-19.
    This after inspections showed that some companies and their workers tended to be complacent about the health measures as their work progressed.
    City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña told the City Management Committee led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong that the City Buildings and Architecture (CBAO) under Arch. Johnny Degay had been instructed to revoke the work resumption permit granted a firm found to have violated the health and safety standards for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulting to a cluster of 51 cases among its workforce.
    He said the Sanitation Division of the City Health Services Office under Engr. Charles Carame will begin conducting random and regular rounds of inspection of construction sites and this will be sustained year-round.
    Dela Cruz said that since the city allowed construction works to resume amid the pandemic, all contractors undertaking projects had been required to comply with the minimum health standards in their work stations before they were issued permits to start or resume work.
    However, in the course of their jobs, some of them had become negligent of the safety measures.
    He said this was what happened to the construction company hit by a cluster of COVID-19 cases in the past weeks.
    "At the outset they were compliant and even presented ideal conditions of their construction sites and barracks but as their work progressed, they became complacent. They hired additional laborers but did not add more facilities resulting to cramped and unsanitary condition and the spread of the virus," Dela Peña said.
    The mayor earlier ordered extensive inspection of all construction sites and workers’ barracks in the city following the outbreak of COVID-19 cases among workers in said construction site located near a condominium.
    Contact tracing reports showed gross violations of the health and safety protocols in construction and barracks sites like overall unsanitary condition of the premises, conduct of drinking sprees, failure to wear face masks and disregard of quarantine requirements.