MANILA, Philippines — Month-long mall-wide sale? Now is not the time to throw all caution to the wind, so to speak.
The Department of Health on Friday said it is still discouraging the public in going to crowded places amid the threat of the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19, as government gives the green light to the first ever nationwide mall sale in March.
But if people really needed to go, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III cautioned mall operators and mall-goers to heed health protocols to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said for starters, the mall management should provide alcohol to mall goers, while security guards should have thermal guns to check the temperatures of customers entering their establishment.
“If it (mall sale) will be continued, we are consistent with our advisory, the procedure must be followed,” Duque told reporters during his regular briefing at the DOH main office.
While noting that these conditions will reduce the risk of COVID-19 contamination, Duque maintained his position that the public should refrain from going to crowded places due to the virus scare.
“It can be held but we discourage people from going to places where there is quite a volume of people just to make sure that no increased risks are going to confront our people,” he said.
The Department of Tourism will hold its first Philippine Shopping Festival from March 1 to 31 this year to allow more foreign and local tourists to visit the country’s retail centers.
The month-long shopping festival was hatched after the tourism department found a projected tourism revenue loss of P42.9 billion due to the country’s travel ban to China, Hong Kong, and Macau caused by the 2019-nCoV.