GAPAN CITY – Lumang Gapan, the city’s crowd drawer which reportedly kept the local economy strong amid quarantine, was again indefinitely closed amid the spike in cases of the coronavirus diseas.
Mayor Emerson Pascual said he and other members of the local inter-agency task force came up with the decision to temporarily close the place, also called Little Vigan, and the night market at city plaza after recording a record high of 43 active Covid cases on Monday, from 23 on Sunday.
“Dahil nga ang swab test natin ay libre, napakadaling magpa-swab test sa Gapan, walang bayad kahit singko,” Pascual said, admitting at seeing the increase in cases, “Kaya sa totoo lang po very alarming. Naga-alala na ako.”
He expressed regret about the decision, noting that contact tracing records showed no single incident of transmission from those places.
“Isasara po natin ang Lumang Gapan bagama’t hanggang ngayon po ay walang sinasabi ang contact tracing team natin na ang mga Covid-19 na ito ay nanggaling sa Lumang Gapan. Wala po talaga,” Pascua said in a live video. “Pero hindi na natin hihintayin na magkahawa-hawa riyan.”
The reopening may happen depending on the number of cases in the city, he said. “Kung bababa ang kaso buksan natin sa isang linggo. Kung tataas, tagalan pa natin.“
“Masaya po sana sa Gapan, kahit papano naidadaos ang buhay natin. Pinaka-safe na libutan ang Lumang Gapan at ang Plaza dahil hindi naman mall ‘yan na airconditioned pero kailangan po talaga e isara na natin yan,” the mayor stressed.
Pascual earlier said that the influx of tourists from different parts of the country in the newly rehabilitated point that encompasses the historic National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, canonically known as Three Kings Parish, has been keeping the life going for residents here.
Meanwhile, the mayor said they started on Wednesday the distribution of free face masks and face shields to residents as they appealed to the public to strictly adhere to the health protocols being implemented by the IATF. On Friday, he said, the city police will launch a strict enforcement of the rules.
“Huhulihin nating lahat, walang sisinuhin. Basta walang face mask at face shield sa Gapan huhulihin natin,” Pascual said. He discouraged village officials from meddling. “Aba e mahiya naman po kaypo kung mang-a-arbor kayo. Face mask at face shield lang.“
The IATF he said has been brainstorming to find way to contain the spread of the virus.
