Inspections on to ensure protocol compliance

Surprise inspections of establishments are being conducted here to ensure compliance to Alert Level 3 restrictions.

City Permits and Licensing Division Chief Allan Abayao said at least 41 establishments — restaurants, banks, salons and drug stores — have been subjected to random checks this week as to their compliance to the provisions of Executive Order No. 5-2022 which put a cap to the customer capacities of the different industries.

For instance, for food and beverage retail establishments with dine-in services, a 30 percent threshold was imposed for indoor setting for fully vaccinated individuals only and 50 percent for outdoor.

Those found non-compliant will be issued notices of violation (NOV) and warning.  Included in the penalties is the revocation of the safety seal certification.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said establishments need to strictly adhere to protocols to help safeguard the health and safety of their customers in the light of the fresh wave of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases believed to be driven by the highly infectious omicron variant.

“We need to cooperate and help each other to arrest this new surge because it will affect not only the health of residents but also the state of the city’s economy,” he said. – Aileen P. Refuerzo