The San Juan City government on Tuesday urged its residents to continue observing precautionary measures, safety, and hygiene protocols during the holiday season.

In his social media post on Tuesday, Mayor Francis Zamora said the curfew hours are shortened from 12 midnight to 3 a.m. beginning December 1 “to give our constituents ample time to prepare for the Christmas season.”

Zamora said residents are allowed to attend the traditional “Simbang Gabi” provided that they will strictly follow the city ordinances and the health guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Residents are advised to observe proper wearing of face mask and face shield, as well as to maintain physical distancing at all times to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) during the holidays.

“Caroling is still banned in Metro Manila because as we know, singing spreads a lot of aerosol particles in the air which then spreads the virus—as much as possible, we would like to avoid any activities which could cause and hasten the spread of the virus,” Zamora said.

Zamora said the city government is considering to allow 75-percent capacity of malls, restaurants, and other commercial establishments in San Juan.

Meanwhile, the city government has installed a free fiber optic internet connection for the use of public students in their online education.

The city’s education department will determine the qualified beneficiary students for the free internet connection.

Zamora said the city government will also launch a free seminar on Meal Management and Safe Food Handling for Food Industry, as he emphasized the need of safe and clean preparation of food in this pandemic time.

The seminar in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry will begin on Dec. 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which aims to support the food sector in managing sanitation, safety requirements, delivery system, and personal hygiene in food preparation during the health crisis.

For more details, residents are urged to contact the San Juan Skills and Livelihood Training Center through hotline number 8693-9464 from Wednesday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and look for Lamberto Abeña.

The city government said it will accept only 20 participants on a ‘first come, first come’ basis.

Food business and eatery owners, servers, cooks, and food delivery riders are welcome to apply for free skills training. (PNA)