NCR mayors wants IATF to restrict outdoor movement of minors

Parents and children prepare to leave a public park during its closing time, as the country’s capital region loosens coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, November 2, 2021. Picture taken November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Manila Council (MMC) which is composed of all the 17 mayors of Metro Maila, has submitted a resolution asking the national government to restrict the mobility and outdoor activities of minors aged 12 and below in the metropolis.

The resolution was signed by all 17 mayors of Metro Manila. The MMC also serves as the policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

According to MMDA Chairperson Benjamin Abalos, the MMC is asking the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to consider barring minors from moving outdoors to protect them from possible COVID-19 infection.

“Endorsing the mobility restriction on minors below 12 years old to the [IATF],” Abalos said in a press conference.

“There is a concern that the mobility of minors 12 years old (and below) must be restricted in order to avoid and prevent their exposure, to or infection from the COVID-19 virus in malls and other public places,” the MMDA chair said, reading a portion of the MMC resolution.

Currently, children are allowed to move outdoors in Metro Manila after it was placed under Alert Level 2 due to lower COVID-19 cases.  However, health experts have feared that the relaxed attitude might cause another surge.

Authorities from the Department of Health (DOH) have warned against being too relaxed, as the pandemic’s threat along with other variants — like the Delta subvariant — is still present.

READ: Children now allowed out under Alert Level 2 in Metro Manila

READ: Complacency under alert level 2 worries DOH

READ: Cause of toddler’s COVID-19 infection ‘uncertain, multifactorial’ — DOH