The permit for the “Run for Jesus”, an event expected to gather 20,000 people, was canceled by this city government due to the threat of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The event scheduled on Thursday night at La Paz district public plaza listed Senator Manny Pacquiao as the guest.
During the inter-agency meeting, City Mayor Jerry Treñas said it is agreed upon to order the Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) to cancel the permit issued to the organizer.
The mayor said the cancellation is meant to prevent the entry of the Covid-19 as some participants are supposed to be coming from an affected city in Korea.
The permit of the event was approved on Jan. 31 but the mayor noted that there was a spike of the cases in South Korea in a week’s span.
“The cases of Covid in Korea were fast to rise from Jan. 31 until now. There are 700 plus (cases) already and eight deaths,” he said.
The government of Daegu City in South Korea has ordered its locals to prevent going out of their homes and to wear masks, Treñas noted.
He said they had coordinated with the Department of Health (DOH) and was advised to call off the event. “The regional director (of DOH) said they discourage this event because they are planning to gather 20,000,” he said.
The city mayor said that he will issue an Executive Order for the cancellation of the big event for the whole of February and March.
The city will also be declaring all travelers from Korea as persons under monitoring and they will be asked to voluntarily quarantine themselves.
Twenty Korean nationals have arrived through the Kalibo International Airport for the “Run for Jesus” event, he said.
Of the 20, four were already in this city. Two of them arrived Monday while the rest arrived Tuesday.
Treñas said the DOH, Bureau of Quarantine, and the Philippine National Police will be tasked to ask the Koreans to voluntarily restrict their movements.
It was also recommended in the meeting that the Koreans will be monitored for 14 days.
The Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERTs) will monitor the Koreans twice daily.
Sixteen others who are still in Aklan are recommended to be monitored at the Aklan Training Facility. (PNA)
