LUCENA CITY – The city public market here will be closed temporarily starting Sunday (March 29) as part of the local government enhanced community quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Arnel Avila, city public information officer, citing the order of Mayor Roderick Alcala, said the closure aims to conduct thorough disinfection as another safeguard measure to protect the public against the dreaded virus.
“It will be temporarily closed until further notice,” Avila said on his Facebook post Saturday.
Avila assured city residents that Alcala will dispatch several “rolling stores” around the city to address the temporary closure of the market. The mobile stores will go around in different barangays to sell food items and other basic essentials.
The public market will be sanitized and disinfected by a team using pressurized water mixed with a safe chemical solution to protect market-goers.
The two-storey-mall-like market located along Claro M. Recto Street has two escalators to help elderly marketgoers.
This city has two confirmed carriers of COVID-19.
The first confirmed case, a 35-year-old man who had traveled to Thailand and Singapore, is still in a hospital but in stable condition and with no symptoms.
The other confirmed virus carrier, a 54-year old woman with no travel background, is also confined in a medical facility. She is also in stable condition.