NCR mayors to issue guidelines, list parks where kids 5 and up are allowed

This May 7, 2018 image shows the Quezon Memorial Circle located in Quezon City.
Arius1998 CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila mayors have agreed to issue local guidelines on the implementation of a pandemic task force policy allowing children five and older outside in areas under General Community Quarantine and MGCQ, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said.

Local governments will also list parks and other outdoor areas where children will be allowed. MMDA said "parks" are areas that are "al fresco or... areas which are without roofs even though they are beside an establishment or outside of malls so long as the air is free-flowing."

The policy-setting Metro Manila Council approved the resolution that also urges component local government units to pass local ordinances or orders that will limit capacity of those outdoor areas to 50%.

Marshals will also be deployed to "privately-owned outdoor areas or parks" to make sure people there follow public health protocols like physical distancing and wearing face masks and face shields.

"These are the conditions that Metro Manila mayors could adopt in issuing executive orders or crafting their respective ordinances in their localities," MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos said in a press release.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases last week issued a resolution allowing children five years old and above to go to parks and outdoor areas in places under GCQ and MGCQ. 

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