Alternative work arrangement reiterated

18 August 2021 – Mayor Benjamin Magalong reiterated his suggestion for government and private offices, companies and institutions to adopt suitable alternative work arrangements geared towards reducing manpower capacity to just 30 percent as a preventive measure against the Delta variant.

“We appreciate the move of some institutions like the University of Baguio in taking our suggestion and we reiterate our call for others to please follow suit,” the mayor said.

“As we had anticipated, our Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases have started to climb and although we have prepared control measures, we would need the help of everyone to make them work.”

He said that based on the city’s experience, workplaces had been one of the hotspots for cases where clustering often occurs.

He said that it preventive measures are not done at once, the city will be faced with more cases that can overwhelm the city’s health system.

Apart from the reducing manpower capacity, the mayor also reiterated that workplaces adhere strictly to the minimum public health standards which include the wearing of double face masks, observance of physical distancing among their employees and customers, regular disinfection, ensuring proper ventilation and avoiding crowding and lingering in confined spaces and eating in groups.

He said these are necessary precautionary measures to protect the city’s workforce from the more virulent effects of the new variant.

Medical experts had warned that, unlike the original Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) strain, the Delta variant has the capacity to infect a person in seconds and to linger more in the air.  Its infectivity rate was even likened to that of chickenpox.

Positive patients are also said to become highly contagious in a shorter time and even if they are asymptomatic because the Delta can cause high amount of viral load. – Aileen P. Refuerzo