General Santos malls turn festive as city relaxes pandemic restrictions

General Santos City’s malls were in a festive mood as shoppers, many with children in tow, flocked to commercial centers after the local government relaxed COVID-19 pandemic restrictions this week.

“Morag wala nay COVID (It’s as if there is no more COVID),” a mall guard told Rappler.

He gestured that face shields were no longer required of those entering the mall where he works beginning Friday, November 12.

The relaxed restrictions came after this city was deemed low-risk for COVID-19 due to a substantial decrease in daily new cases since October.

But General Santos will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of November, based on an order issued by Mayor Ronnel Rivera.

City hall had earlier asked the governement’s coronavirus task force to downgrade the city’s quarantine classification from the least strict modified GCQ (MGCQ).

Rivera’s Executive Order No. 51 lifted the six-hour nightly curfew, except for minors. 

The city’s malls opened their doors to children, but only when accompanied by their parents. Still, amusement places for children remained closed.

City hall also got rid of the required copies of RT-PCR test results from people to show that they are not COVID-19-infected, and the mandatory 14-day quarantine for incoming travelers provided that they have been fully vaccinated.

Local business leaders welcomed the move, saying the easing of restrictions would open new opportunities and spur the city’s economy.

Elmer Catulpos, president of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, lauded the local government for the move, and for listening to people hurting because of months of restrictions.

“Dako among pasalamat kanila kay naminaw sila sa among awhag nga dili na mag-lockdown ug wala-on na ang curfew kay dili kini ang solusyon sa kalisud nga atong nasinatian,” Catulpos said.

(We are very thankful to them because they finally listened to us when we said that the lockdowns and curfew are not the solutions.)

General Santos’ coronavirus task force reported on Tuesday, November 9, that the city was already classified as a low-risk area because of a significant decrease in its single-day documented COVID-19 cases since October.

The city’s COVID-19 interagency task force said General Santos’ hospitals were no longer overwhelmed by new COVID-19 patients.

The task force said these improvements were complemented by the continuing increase in the number of vaccinated residents.

“It was resolved (during the meeting) that there is a need to implement new guidelines geared towards the opening of the city’s economy, which is vital to the survival of the people,” Rivera said.

On Thursday evening, the City Health Office counted 162 remaining active COVID-19 cases, way much lower than the over 1,000 cases during the surge in September.

Dr. Fidel Penamante, president of the local chapter of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), attributed the progress in General Santos’ public health situation to the ongoing vaccination campaign although local health officials said that only about 23% of the 459,732 targeted beneficiaries have been fully inoculated.

“I observed that, unlike before, the COVID-19 patients now have only mild to moderate symptoms. The vaccination helped in improving the hospital bed occupancy situation,” said Dr. Renato Diagan, president of the local private hospitals’ association. – Rappler.com

Rommel Rebollido is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship.