SAN Simon Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. told business owners on April 15 to ensure the safety of their workers amid the rising cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Luzon.
Punsalan made the appeal during his municipal address on Thursday afternoon where he simultaneously announced the implementation of stricter health and safety protocols in town.
"We understand the need to continuously to operate businesses but we are reminding owners and managements to put the safety of their employees at the top priority," he said.
The mayor said eating by groups at workplaces is temporarily prohibited to prevent spreading the virus in case one is infected.
He also asked owners to provide temporary shelter to employees who are residing outside of the municipality to avoid exposure to virus.
"If they go home every day, they will be required to undergo swab testing every three days because that is the validity of the test. Even then, we still cannot be sure so the best thing to do is to keep them in one place for the mean time, at least until the surge is over so we can protect our workers and also their families," he said.
Stricter health protocols
During his address, Punsalan also informed Simonians of the stricter health protocols that will be implemented under Executive Order 04-011 S. 2021.
Punsalan's EO adopted Governor Dennis Pineda's EO 5-B-2021, which set stricter measure in the fight against Covid-19.
Under Punsalan's EO, the entry of persons inside the San Simon Public Market and Nayong Tsinoy Public Market are limited to 30 and 60 persons, respectively.
The municipal isolation facility will also be catering to Covid-19 patients but are asymptomatic. Symptomatic patients will be transferred to hospitals while suspect cases are advise to self-quarantine.
All establishments operating solely for leisure purposes such as resorts, gyms, salons and barber shops, and gaming establishments are not allowed to operate.
Presentation of RT-PCR negative test results at checkpoints installed at all borders of the municipality is also continuously required for non-residents of this town.
Punsalan said he will personally go around the municipality to inspect and check the compliance of the people.
"I am asking for your cooperation. We are slowly seeing the win with the arrival and administration of vaccines. With your cooperation and understanding, we can slow down, if not stop the surge and finally win this fight against Covid-19," he said.