DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio cautioned Dabawenyos and Filipino-Chinese who will celebrate the Chinese New Year this February 1 to abide by the minimum health protocols to avoid causing transmission.
"Atong reminders sa tanan (Our reminder to the public), in the celebration of the Chinese New Year, wear your mask... avoid crowded places, keep your distance from other people, and bring your alcohol to frequently wash your hands with alcohol," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
The mayor also reminded those who will attend gatherings to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
She had reiterated this following the surge of Covid-19 cases in the city, which is has been attributed to the Omicron variant of the virus.
The mayor and the Covid-19 Task Force had also attributed the gatherings in the Christmas and New Year celebrations as one factor that fueled the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the Davao City Government, through Davao City Tourism Operations Office and Davao City Chinatown Development Council, will celebrate the 2022 Chinese New Year virtually on January 31, 2022, at 8 p.m.
This is in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 69 published on December 29, 2021, extending anew the prohibition of non-essential events among government offices, including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC) in the city until September 12, 2022.
EO 69 prohibits all face-to-face activities in barangay, local and national government office events including GOCC events.
"There is a need to continue implementing existing protocols specifically to prevent mass gatherings following the emergence of the Covid-19 variants, particularly the Delta and Omicron variants," the mayor stated in EO 69.
She added, "There is a need to extend the provisions of [EO 43] series of 2021 to regulate some activities that can contribute to local transmission in the City."
Meanwhile, Davao City, currently under Alert Level 3 until January 31, prohibits gatherings in residences with individuals not belonging to the same household, according to the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.