BAGUIO CITY, Jan. 31 (PIA) — The Panagbenga 2020 opening Street Dance Parade set this Saturday (February 1) is cancelled as part of pre-emptive measures taken to protect the people from the 2019 Novel Corona Virus (nCoV).
The decision was arrived at during an interagency meeting today (Friday) spearheaded by the Department of Health-Cordillera and participated by officials of the City Local Government Unit, the Baguio Flower Festival Inc. and government agencies and other stakeholders.
“We’re doing this because we want to be proactive about it. We are very much concerned about the health of our residents and visitors in the city,” Mayor Benjamin Magalong said.
Meanwhile, Andrew Pinero of the Baguio Flower Foundation Inc. clarified that tourists can still visit and enjoy Baguio despite cancellation of the events that attract big crowds.
PRE-EMPTIVE MEASURES. The Baguio City Local Govenrnment Unit, government agencies, the Baguio Flower Festival Inc., and other stakeholders discuss 2019 nCoV measures during an interagency meeting spearheaded by the Department of Health-Cordillera.
Aside from the Panagbenga opening parade, Magalong also announced postponement of other big events in the city including the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (CARAA) Meet scheduled on February 16-21; the pedestrianization of Session Road every Sunday; and other crowd-drawer activities like the International Jazz Festival.
“We just want to make it clear that only the huge activities are postponed or cancelled but all other events like weddings and conferences will push through.”
City Health Officer Rowena Galpo assured that the local government is coordinating with the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio through orientations, advisories, and guidelines on nCoV.
The city local government also created a Task Force to monitor and ensure adequate response on developments regarding the disease.
The DOH-CAR stressed that to date, there are no persons under investigation (PUI) for 2019-nCoV in the region. (JDP/JJPM-PIA CAR)
Leave a Reply