THE decision of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella not to allow minors (15 years old below) inside malls during the Christmas holidays even if they are accompanied by their parents is the right judgment call. He is on the right track. Labella’s decision contradicts the earlier pronouncement of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año who encouraged local governments units (LGUs) to pass an ordinance allowing minors in malls as long as they are in the company of their parents.
When Año announced this last week, he was repudiated by some Cabinet members, especially Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III, who insisted that it is very risky to allow minors in shopping malls, saying they are considered as the “super-spreaders” of Covid-19. Duque’s stand was supported by various organizations in the medical profession.
“We will not allow minors, below 15 years old, to go malling because it is very risky. Besides, there is no such ordinance yet being enacted as Año suggested,” Labella said. Labella’s decision is being backed by health officials and experts. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) daily monitoring showed that some transmissions of the Covid-19 have been linked to malls. In November, monitoring showed that there were at least six cases attributed to malls as the possible source of infection.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes may also follow suit Labella’s decision by coming up with an executive order. Metro Manila mayors through the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) were also unanimous in their decision to ban minors in malls.
Duque’s strong opposition is backed up by data. He said that “three to five percent of the total Covid-19 cases in the country are children, so they are not exempted from the virus.” He said that children may not manifest severe symptoms, but still, they can spread the virus to others. They may trigger a spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.
Harvard Gazette published a comprehensive study of Covid-19 pediatric patients in which researchers provide critical data showing that children play a larger role in the community spread of Covid-19 than previously thought. The infected children were shown to have a significant higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in ICUs for Covid-19 treatment.
“Kids are not immune from the infections and their symptoms don’t correlate with exposure and infection,” according to Alessio Fastano, director of Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center of Massachusetts General Hospital, adding that “their research showed that kids are not protected against the virus. We should not discount children as potential spreaders for this virus.”
The researchers noted that although children with Covid-19 are not likely to become as seriously ill as adults, but asymptomatic carriers or carriers with few symptoms attending school or going to malls can spread infection and bring the virus into their homes. This is a particular concern for families in certain socio-economic groups, which have been hardest hit in the pandemic and multi-generational families with vulnerable older adults in the same household. The study also shows that 51 percent of children infected with the virus came from low-income communities compared to two per cent from high-income communities.
I know that some concerned children and parents would “violently react” to Mayor Labella’s decision. But why gamble? We would rather prefer to see our children bored inside our houses alive and kicking than lose them forever.