Cebu City malls cease operations due to COVID-19

CEBU CITY –– Except for those providing basic necessities, all malls in this city have to temporarily cease operations to stop the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella on Thursday issued an executive order mandating the closure of all malls.

“We have to come up with this measure so that people would not be tempted to go out of their homes and spend time in shopping malls,” he said in a press conference.

Exempted from the order were grocery stores, supermarkets, money remittance centers, pharmacies, hardware stores, and banks.

SM Supermalls immediately complied with the mayor’s order and started to close its two branches in the city on Thursday.

Ayala Center Cebu and Robinsons Cebu, on the other hand, will start closing their malls on Friday, March 20.

Labella’s executive order includes the temporary closure of spas, hair salons, barbershops, massage parlors, facial and aesthetic clinics, internet cafes, gaming arcades, karaoke bars, sports centers, including the Cebu City Sports Center, country clubs, and golf clubs.

Also ordered closed are places of amusement that serve alcoholic beverages such as night clubs, bars, taverns, cocktail lounges, beer parlors, and pubs; arts, entertainment and recreation activities, and places such as live performances, events or exhibits intended for public viewing, art, galleries, concerts, and opera or dance production, operation of concert and theater halls and other arts; gambling facilities such casinos, bingo halls, video gaming terminals, and the provision of gambling services such as lotteries and off-tracking betting; fitness centers, gyms, dance studio, and other fitness classes.

Labella advised the public to stay at home and to observe social distancing.

He also bared plans to purchase 100,000 sacks of rice that would be given to people greatly affected by the closure of some establishments.

“Priority is given to our less fortunate constituents,” Labella said.

Edited by LZB