NO NEED to lock down tourism sites in La Trinidad despite the recorded cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Lawmakers in Benguet’s capital town disclosed although there is no lockdown for its crowd drawing tourist spots, they continue to advocate precautionary measures against the virus.
This was discussed during the Municipal Council’s regular session on Tuesday after Councilor Guiller Galwan raised his concern on possible Covid–19 infection in crowd drawing areas such as the strawberry fields.
Vice Mayor Roderick Awingan, for his part, said locking down the town will impede the right of persons to travel, saying communities who have tourist areas however must conduct necessary precautionary measures against the virus.
“As precautionary measures, what they could do is to limit the persons going in the area. There would be certain distance from one person to another. This is a national emergency. We cannot really impede the travel of a person to another area,” he added.
A coronavirus task force was created in the municipality in February to address the concern, implement preventive, containment and control measures against the virus and to prepare for the future proven local transmission.
The annual strawberry festival of the town set this March was earlier cancelled as a preventive measure against the virus.
Among the top tourist sites in the Benguet town are the strawberry farm known for its strawberry picking activities, the hillside homes artwork of Stobosa, and new attractions such as the flower farms of barangays Alapang and Shilan.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared on Monday a state of public health emergency in the country due to the virus adding the declaration will enable a whole government response to mitigate its effect and impact on the country and its people.
The new cases of Covid-19 were reported in different areas in National Capital Region.
Department of Health in Cordillera on Monday’s press conference disclosed the region remain free from the virus.