The Pasig City government has ordered the temporary suspension of operations of a mall’s supermarket over its failure to implement minimum health safety standards, specifically physical distancing measures.

Mayor Vico Sotto said the grocery section of the Landers Superstore in Barangay Ugong has been temporarily closed from July 21 to 27.

Sotto said only the grocery section is closed to the public while the mall’s restaurant, barbershop, plant shop, pharmacy, and the parking lot remain open for businesses.

“Usually when we suspend, for this reason, we don’t announce the name. We don’t want them to have bad publicity, we just want their customers safe,” Sotto said, as he defended his decision to name the supermarket. “But this is big business, so you will probably hear about it anyway.”

Sotto, meanwhile, said the mall’s management has expressed its intent to make necessary adjustments in compliance with the city government’s health protocols and guidelines to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“We encourage them [Landers Management] to use the next few days to improve their health and safety protocols,” he said.

Localized ECQ

Meanwhile, the local government has placed Ventura Compound at F. Mariano, Barangay Dela Paz under localized enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on Monday due to the surge of Covid-19 cases.

“Nagdedeklara po tayo ng Localized ECQ sa mga lugar na mataas ang konsentrasyon ng mga kaso (We declare localized ECQ in those areas with a high concentration of cases),” Sotto said in a separate Facebook post.

He said the local government is monitoring the number of active, suspected, and probable cases in every compound, street, and small area compared to its total population.

The declaration of localized lockdown is not based on the total number of cases in the entire barangay, Sotto said but is based on the surge of cases in a particular area, compound, or street.

“Hindi po basehan ang total na bilang ng kaso sa buong barangay. Tandaan natin na hindi pare-pareho ang laki ng mga barangay sa Pasig (It’s not based on the total number of cases in the entire barangay. We should remember that the sizes of each barangay in Pasig differ from each other),” he said.

Under Pasig’s localized ECC, residents will only be allowed to leave the premises of their houses for work and emergency reasons.

The local government will provide food packs and other essentials for its residents, Sotto said, to minimize their need to go outside.

Sotto earlier announced the implementation of localized lockdowns in four streets in Pipino, Labanos, Okra, and Ubas Streets in Napico, Barangay Manggahan which began Sunday evening.

Sotto reminded anew residents to adhere to the government’s preventive measures against Covid-19. (PNA)