BY GENALYN KABILING
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LOCAL government units are encouraged to implement a rotating schedule for communities in buying food and medicine to avoid overcrowding in essential stores, a Palace official said yesterday.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the Department of Interior and Local Government had asked local officials to remove the window period when people are allowed to go to markets and drug stores and instead consider scheduling that complies with physical distancing protocols.
The latest appeal came following the reported overcrowding in public markets despite the quarantine measures put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“They advised LGUs to discontinue the use of limited window periods with regard to access to public and private establishments like wet markets, supermarkets, grocery stores, and pharmacies,” Nograles said.
He added that the DILG has observed that window period only “creates congestion of people who flock to these establishments at the same time, and poses risks to the implementation of social distancing.”
“Scheduling and or clustering of the communities and or barangays who may be allowed to go out instead is highly encouraged,” said Nograles, spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Nograles said that scheduling and clustering strategies could prevent people from going to markets and drug stores all at the same time.
“Mas mahaba ang oras ng bawat tao lumabas. Rotational po ang areas na puwedeng lumabas para mas konti ang tao na nasa labas at a given time,” he said.
