Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has issued the latest general community quarantine guidelines to reflect the expanded scope of allowable economic activity under the Department of Trade and Industry’s Memorandum Circular No. 20-57.
“With our active coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases now on a downward trend, we are now pushing various activities during the holidays that will open and jumpstart the economy and give livelihood to our citizens,” she said.
“However, we encourage them to hold these activities in open-air spaces or naturally ventilated indoor areas to help prevent the virus from spreading. This way, we will be having a safe and meaningful Christmas celebration,” she added.
Under the latest GCQ guidelines, mall sales, bazaars, tiangges and similar activities are now allowed subject to minimum health protocols to prevent the spread of the virus.
The organizers are also required to log all attendees for contact tracing purposes and is strongly encouraged to use a digital contact tracing method, such as SafePass.
Based on studies, open-air or well-ventilated indoor spaces decrease the chances of being infected with COVID-19.
The revised guidelines also state that malls have to enforce a capacity limitation that allows physical distancing of at least one meter among all customers.
According to Belmonte, capacity limitation shall be subjected for review and modification by the Business Permits and Licensing Department, and Market Development and Administration Department.
Malls must also set up queuing areas with thermal scanning of guests or customers and provide an adequate number of marshals who will enforce physical distancing.
The city’s Law and Order Cluster, regulatory departments, 142 barangays and Quezon City Police District are tasked to ensure that the latest guidelines are strictly enforced.
As of Nov. 4, the city government reported that 94 percent or 21,377 patients have recovered from COVID-19, further dropping its active cases to just 756.