Digos City reimposes liquor ban, extends curfew hours

DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — Digos City has reimposed a liquor ban and lengthened the curfew hours as part of renewed measures to limit the movement of people to help stem the spread of SARS-COV2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

On Friday, Mayor Josef Cagas issued COVID-19 Guidelines and Advisory Number 13 to prevent a spike of confirmed cases in other places due to the easing of restrictions.

Beginning on Aug. 1, a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. and the liquor ban were imposed.

Exempted from the curfew are hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, gasoline stations, business process outsourcing companies, and funeral parlors.

Cagas also decreed that all private establishments and offices, including malls and the public market, must be closed on Sundays — except for hospitals, pharmacies, drugstores, other health services firms, convenience stores, sari-sari stores, public utilities and mass media outlets.

Restaurants and other food outlets may open on Sunday but only for takeout orders.

All forms of public transportation, including tricycles, are also prohibited from operating on Sundays, along with mass gatherings like concerts, sporting events, celebrations, and other leisure activities.

However, religious services are permitted if attendees fill up only 50 percent of a venue’s seating capacity, and each of them should have a quarantine pass.

As of July 31, Digos City only has six active cases.

/atm