Full operation of staycation hotels approved

MANILA – The full operation of staycation hotels is now allowed amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Malacañang said on Friday.

In a press statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the recommendation of its technical working group to allow staycation hotels to operate up to “100 percent” of its venue capacity.

“On tourism-related matters, Department of Tourism (DOT)-accredited accommodation establishments with Certificates of Authority to Operate for Staycation may accommodate guests for staycation up to 100 percent venue capacity,” Roque, who also serves as IATF-EID spokesperson, said.

Roque said staycation hotels may also forego the Covid-19 testing of guests as a prerequisite for accommodation, so long as their guests are aged 18 to 65.

Originally, only hotels or accommodation establishments with DOT’s accreditation are allowed to accommodate guests and clients for legitimate purposes, according to the omnibus guidelines on the community quarantine in the country.

‘Leisure’ accommodation

Roque said accommodation establishments in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) may accommodate guests for leisure purposes for up to 30 percent of their venue capacity, subject to DOT guidelines and other conditions.

IATF-EID Resolution 117, which was approved on Thursday, said guests in accommodation establishments in GCQ zones “shall only come from the same household.”

“Provided, further, that the local government unit (LGUs) with jurisdiction over these Accommodation Establishments shall strictly monitor their compliance with minimum public health standards,” it said.

Vaccine administration system

Meantime, LGUs are mandated to adopt and utilize the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) Vaccine Administration System (D-VAS), Roque said.

The adoption of D-VAS, Roque said, should be done in phases as may be determined by DICT.

He said the use of the vaccine administration system should be “without prejudice to the use of the LGU’s own local database system as a supplementary system.”

The first phase of the D-VAS shall be implemented in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and the cities of Cebu and Davao, based on the latest IATF resolution.

The D-VAS is part of the Vaccination Information Management System (VIMS) developed by DICT in support of the national immunization program of the government. The VIMS is composed of the VIMS- Immunization Registry for master listing and pre-registration for vaccination and the D-VAS for the directory of vaccine recipients.

Roque said the IATF-EID also adopted the use of modules for establishment protection, as well as citizen application, subject to the presentation to the IATF of its operability, in an effort to improve the use of StaySafe.PH.

The task force, he added, also approved the recommendation for the Joint Administrative Order for the Interoperability of All Contact Tracing Applications.