Baguio Recalibrates Market Rules Amid Social Distancing Lapses

April 19, 2020 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY (April 17, 2020) — Baguio will have a new market window hours starting Monday, April 20, reducing the number of times one member of a household is allowed to go out from thrice to twice a week, but for a longer duration of six from four hours.
Baguio mayor Benjamin Magalong on Friday (April 17) released the new market day for residents of the city’s 20 districts or the clustering of the 128 barangays.
The new scheme dreams to have less people during the 11 hours that Baguio residents are allowed at the city market so to comply with the social distancing and 24-hour curfew under the enhanced community quarantine to stop spread of the coronavirus.
Magalong has earlier threatened residents to limit their market days from three to two due to the crowding at the city market and people forgetting the social distancing requirement.
That especially after the city registered its first coronavirus disease (Covid-19) case on April 11 after 13 days of no new case and has since then recorded two other more for a total of 17 cases of which one has died, 12 has recovered and four still under hospital care.
The new schedule will see residents from districts 1, 2, 6 and 9 on the 6AM – 12 Noon and districts 3, 5, 8 and 11 on the 11AM – 5PM Monday schedule. The same group will be allowed at the market on Thursday but on a reversed time slot.
On Tuesday, residents from districts 10, 12, 16 and 20 will be allowed in the morning schedule, while residents from districts 7, 13 and Purok 1-18 from the city’s biggest barangay Irisan will take the later slot. The same group will be allowed to go to market on Friday on a reversed time slot.
The last batch of districts 4, 15, 17 and 18 and 14, 19 and Irisan Purok 19-28 are given the Wednesday and Saturday schedule, again following the same procedure.
The mayor said that residents will not need to get a new home quarantine pass from their barangay. But they need to get a special pass from their respective barangays to buy from hardware stores, auto supply, school and office supply when said stores are open every Thursdays and Fridays.
Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN