Cebu City restricts unvaccinated from entering indoor establishments

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) – The Cebu City government will restrict all unvaccinated persons against COVID-19 from entering indoor establishments in the city.

In an executive order signed on Wednesday by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, vaccination cards are required before entry to indoor venues in a bid to control the spread of COVID-19 and its highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Children below 11 years old are prohibited inside indoor establishments, while those aged 12 to 17 will be allowed to enter provided they are fully vaccinated and accompanied by a fully immunized adult.

Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia earlier mandated all towns and component cities in the province to relax their vaccination card requirements.

Although Cebu City is the capital of Cebu province, the highly urbanized city is independent from the jurisdiction of the provincial government. Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue are also independent cities, which are not under provincial supervision.

The memorandum from the Cebu provincial government included the non-requirement of vaccination cards in public transport, entry into establishments, employment, and schools.

The Cebu City local government is also enforcing a curfew for minors from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and for non-essential activities from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Cebu City has 3,709 active COVID-19 cases, the biggest among the three component cities in Cebu province, based on the latest count of the Department of Health-Central Visayas Center for Health Development. The city logged 564 new infections on Tuesday.

Cebu-based Dale Israel contributed to this report.