By Non-essential travel to Baguio still not allowed until September 26, 2021
Planning on traveling to Baguio City for leisure or other non-essential travel? You may want to put a hold on your travel plans as the City of Baguio has extended its mandate on not allowing non-essential and leisure travel to Baguio City. The ban on non-essential travelers applies to everyone regardless of the community quarantine or risk level classification of their place of origin. This is according to Executive Order 114 Series of 2021 as issued by the City Mayors’ office.
The Reason for the Non-Leisure travel ban
Cited in the executive order is the surge in COVID-19 cases in the City as the main reason for barring non-essential travelers into the City. For the past weeks now, the City has experienced an increase in COVID-19 cases averaging around 240 per day and it has now affected 119 of the 128 barangays in the city. Just yesterday, September 15, 2021, the total number of cases surged to 262 on a single day with 12 deaths.
Additional Guidelines
Aside from the ban on non-essential travelers, several restrictions have also been extended. These are the following:
- Entry to Baguio City is only allowed for APORs (Authorized Persons Outside of Residence), subject of course to proper screening protocols and presentation of complete travel documents.
- All persons aged 17 and below shall remain in their residences except in:
a. Attending permitted recreational or leisure activities in outdoor areas such as parks, playgrounds, biking, and hiking trails, outdoor tourist sites and attractions, outdoor non-contact sports courts and venues, al-fresco seating areas in food and beverage establishments with dine-in services.
b. Indispensable appointments or transactions that require physical presence, or medical appointments, or emergencies.
3. Total ban on the sale, distribution, and service of liquor products and other alcoholic beverages.
4. Dine-in service for food and beverage establishments shall limit their capacity to 30%.
5. Indoor gyms, salons, spas, fitness centers, and personal care establishments shall be allowed to operate with a limit of 30% capacity.
6. 30% limit capacity shall also be applied to indoor recreational venues such as internet cafes, amusement and game arcades, bowling alleys, e-gaming, bingo outlets, and other similar establishments.
7. Tourist and leisure attractions such as museums, cultural centers, libraries, and archives among others shall be allowed to operate at a 30% limit capacity as well.
8. All other offices and establishments are directed to adopt an alternative work arrangement to reduce the number of on-site personnel.
While the city government provides for the implementation of these guidelines until September 26, 2021. This does not automatically mean that such guidelines will be lifted, as practiced by the local government, new guidelines or the extension of the existing ones will depend on the number of cases, rate of infection and other factors affecting the health of the general population of Baguio City.
