Nov. 5, 2020 – Mayor Benjamin Magalong ordered the creation of an inspection team dedicated to ensuring compliance of business establishments with the health and safety protocols against Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“We need a team that will ensure that restaurants, grocery stores, accommodation facilities and others are consistently compliant with the prescribed minimum health standards and protocols. We need to proactively address incidents similar to the Good Taste (Restaurant) outbreak,” the mayor said.
City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña said he will form the team with representatives of concerned offices.
A total of 36 employees of the restaurant had tested positive as of Nov. 5 and the mayor said the number is expected to increase as results of other staff members are released. As of the said date, 30 workers are on isolation and 209 others are on quarantine either in shelters provided by the establishment owner or in their homes which are all under strict monitoring by the city and barangay health workers.
The restaurant issued a statement Nov. 3 informing of their closure for two weeks and assuring that all measures are being undertaken to address the health and welfare of their affected workers and to make their establishment safe when they reoperate.
The mayor said he will prioritize the restaurant workers in the next expanded testing programs to arrest the infection in the sector.
He said 500 tests will be allocated for these workers in the expanded testing program he requested from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority which will be conducted Nov. 7 in the city. ** Aileen P. Refuerzo
