DUE to the rising Covid-19 cases in Brgy. Guadalupe, Cebu City, Barangay Captain Michael Gacasan said their “Sunday lockdown” will remain in place until further notice.
This, as a small business owner who requested anonymity, told SunStar Cebu that it had affected their meager sales especially during the pandemic.
“It really has a big impact on small businesses like ours since on Sundays, it is supposed to be the time orders will peak since it’s a weekend. It is unfair that big fast food businesses are allowed to operate but we can’t,” he said.
In response, Gacasan told SunStar Cebu that essential businesses like food establishments, big or small, can operate on Sundays as long as they offer only delivery services whether it be the store’s own or via Foodpanda and Grab.
“We have extended the stricter policies on Sunday because our cases continue to rise. We tried to see if cases would decrease, but they continued to rise every day. Additional cases would go from 18 to 17 every day,” he said.
He said they will monitor their cases and by the time the number decreases, that’s when they will lift the order.
For the 14 days from Jan. 9 to Jan. 22, Guadalupe recorded the most number of new Covid-19 cases among the city’s 80 barangays at 50 cases, based on data released by the Emergency Operations Center.
This prompted the barangay to strictly implement the curfew, stay-at-home order and “Sunday lockdown” for two weeks starting on Jan. 24 to help slow down Covid-19 transmission in the barangay.
The Sunday lockdown means only essential establishments are allowed to operate, while only authorized persons outside residence and those with essential purposes are allowed to go out, Gacasan said.
Essential delivery services will not be hampered, he said.
He said if an essential business wants to operate on a Sunday through deliveries, the owner can submit a request letter together with other documents proving that it has that option to the barangay hall so barangay officials can assess it.
The lockdown will give establishments time to disinfect their premises, Gacasan added. Physical masses have also been canceled.
In the 14-day period from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8, Guadalupe was still on top, this time recording 167 new cases. In second spot was Labangon with 81 cases. Third were Apas and Talamban with 77 cases, followed by Tisa with 68 cases and Lahug with 63 cases. (JOB)