Safety still a city hall concern

April 9, 2022 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO’S ICONIC governing house, the City Hall, continues to enforce health and safety protocols engendered by the continuing covid-19 pandemic, despite the city’s having been on Alert Level One status, and now nationally recognized for being at sustained low-risk category among the leading highly modernized cities.
This was emphasized by Mayor Benjie Magalong in his regular briefing with the local and national media covering his regular work-week routines, during which he explained the actual pandemic situation as conveyed by data analytics coming from I.T-aided monitoring specialists.
“Health and safety continue to be an abiding concern, even as we calibrate strategies that allow the eventual revitalization of the domestic economy, the reopening of affected business, and the energized work activities in government offices,” the Mayor stressed.
He added that the pandemic remains a threat, despite indications that Covid- 19 is wearing out and is on the wane, as attested by the zero case count in recent days, the stepped-up vaccination drive which has jabbed way beyond the target population sectors by more than 100%, the declining hospitalization use for Covid patients, and the continued high-volume testing and tracing activities.
“City Hall workdays are normalizing now, even as health protocols remain in place, precisely to protect government workers and constituents taking up business in our offices,” he further said, pointing out the need to enforce minimum health standards on the premises.
“Better be safe than sorry,” he said, noting that new variants are being watched with vigilance by experts and scientists, especially cases that have begun to take place in nearby countries.
As a travel destination, Baguio remains to be among the most visited places in recent weeks when its Covid status has been lowered to Alert Level One, reason why the Mayor stated the need to be watchful of weekly tourist arrivals, “to guide us if there’s a need to set limits or not.”
“We need to balance off continued health protection with the needs of a re-growing economy, for jobs and livelihood can be recovered from re-opened businesses, especially those reliant on tourism,” he added.