Manila shopping malls to remain open

MANILA – The city government of Manila clarified there are no plans yet to close shopping malls and other similar establishments as it disowned news circulating online.

It also assured that the city’s hospital occupancy rate, at 36 percent, is far from the critical level.

“The Manila Public Information Office (MPIO) would like to clarify that Ordinance No. 8617 or the temporary closure of all malls and similar establishments in the City of Manila was implemented last year,” the city’s official Facebook account posted Monday.

The MPIO clarified that the ordinance being rehashed was issued on March 17, 2020, when Metro Manila was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ordinance No. 8617 is no longer in effect.

“We ask the public to remain vigilant at all times, particularly at this time of the pandemic where love and understanding should be spread and not hate and confusion,” MPIO stated.

Amid rising Covid-19 infections in the city (1,549 active infections as of Sunday), Manila Chief Information Officer Julius Leonen said the bed occupancy rate for Covid-19 patients in the city’s six district hospitals is still under manageable condition.

Data from the Manila Health Department (MHD) reported on March 12 that Ospital ng Maynila only has 26 percent occupancy, Ospital ng Sampaloc has 93 percent, Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital 18 percent, Gat Andres is 33 percent full, Ospital ng Tondo has 73 percent occupancy, and Sta. Ana Hospital is 42 percent occupied.

“We recognize that there has been a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, but so far, we can say that the situation in the City of Manila is still manageable,” Leonen said.

However, most quarantine facilities are under renovation, need replacement of broken equipment and must be improved, he said.

The Tondo High School Quarantine facility, assigned for Covid-19 suspected individuals, and the temporary facility for those who underwent swab test while waiting for their test result only has a 36 percent occupancy rate.

Before the four-day lockdown in six villages that will start at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday and will last until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Leonen said the city government has already distributed 7,895 food boxes to affected residents of Barangays 185, 374, 521, 628, 675, and 847.

Contact tracing and swab testing will be done during the lockdown.