MANKAYAN, Benguet – The municipal government announced that paragliding in the municipality has been temporarily suspended following the ongoing surge in the number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases triggered by the emergence of the more infectious and more transmissible Omicron variant to spare the residents and visitors from contracting the deadly virus.
Further, Mayor Frenzel A. Ayong added that tourism-related activities will also be closed to visitors from outside the locality to avoid the unnecessary increase in COVID-19 cases that might compromise the local health care system and unduly stress the frontliners.
He pointed out that the suspension of tourism-related activities for people coming from outside the municipality is part of the restrictions that should be imposed by the concerned local governments after the whole province was placed by the inter-agency task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases under Alert Level III up to the end of the month.
However, the local chief executive claimed that the town’s tourist destinations will remain open to residents to allow them to have the necessary space to move around and enjoy the sceneries, especially that the said spots are open spaces.
According to him, there is a need to contain the movement of people in and out of the municipality with the ongoing surge in cases to prevent further escalation of individuals that might be infected with the virus so that they will not transmit the same to their family members, relatives or close contacts that will cause unnecessary increases in cases in the locality which the local government does not want to happen in the first place due to its impact to the limited health care facilities and health workers.
While it is true that tourism is a major factor in the presence of available jobs and economic activities of the people, he stated that there is a need for the local government to continue striking a balance between health and economy to avoid the occurrence of untoward incidents that could result to the sudden overwhelming of the local health care system and cause undue stress to the frontliners to the health workers.
The mayor emphasized that the people were witnesses to how difficult the situation in the municipality when there were previous surges in cases that is why local officials and health workers do not want to experience the same situation all over again, thus, the need for the residents to continue cooperating with the implementation of the minimum health protocols which serves as a deterrent in the rapid spread of the virus in the community.
He advised residents to immediately seek medical attention from the nearest health facility or rural health center if they have symptoms of the virus such as common colds, cough, sore throat among others so that they can be provided with the proper guidance so that their health condition will not be compromised.
Ayong asserted that people should not hesitate to seek the advise from the health workers on what to do with their condition because they are in the best position to know what will be the best that should be done to them and for them to obey such guidance to prevent them from making their health conditions worse.