No Christmas decors in public parks in Valenzuela this year

MANILA, Philippines — There will be no Christmas decorations in public parks in Valenzuela during the holidays to avoid mass gathering which can increase COVID-19 transmission among residents, City Mayor Rex Gatchalian bared on Thursday.

“Nag-usap kaming mga doctor, huwag muna gayakan ang mga parke namin. We have four public parks kung saan dati binibihisan namin, nilalagyan namin ng Christmas tree. Ngayon, hindi namin nilalagay iyon dahil una, ayaw namin mapalapit ang tao sa potential convergence,” the mayor said in an interview over ABS-CBN Teleradyo.

(After talking with doctors, we will not beautify our parks. We have four parks where we always put up Christmas decorations, we also put up Christmas trees. Now, we can’t decorate it because we don’t want potential convergence among residents.)

“Alam natin na iyan ang pinakamabilis na way na pagtransmit ng COVID-19. Iyan ang tawag nilang ano e super spreader event so ayaw natin nitong kapaskuhan, kami pa ang naging sanhi ng pagconvergence,” he added.

(It’s the fastest way to spread the virus. This is what we call a super spreader event so we don’t to be blamed for the convergence of people this Christmas.)

The local chief executive explained that their parks are open areas which means it would be difficult for them to control the entry of people.

As of Thursday, the Department of Health said Valenzuela’s COVID-19 cases reached a total of 9,084, with 8,620 recoveries and 226 deaths.

EDV