The San Juan city government on Tuesday announced that beginning Oct. 1, residents can start applying for a visitation schedule in public and private memorial parks, cemeteries, and columbaries.

Mayor Francis Zamora said the city government will allow residents to visit their departed loves ones in cemeteries before and after the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Zamora said executive order No. FMZ-51, series of 2020, mandates the reservations of public and private memorial parks, cemeteries, and columbariums in San Juan city from Oct. 16 until Nov. 15, except from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4 to ensure compliance with required venue capacity under the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 72.

Visitors will be accommodated on a maximum of a two-hour basis, Zamora explained.

A public address system inside the cemeteries will remind the household when the given time of visitation is already over.

Zamora said the system will automatically run 15 minutes before the visitation time is up.

Residents could reserve their preferred visitation date and time by contacting hotline numbers 7728-9818/0915-162-7152 or by visiting www.picktime.com/sanjuancityundas2020.

Residents could also message the city’s official Facebook pages for the reservation services.

A confirmation slip will be provided through text, he said, affirming registration approval.

Zamora said the confirmation slip must be presented upon entering cemetery premises.

Health protocols should be followed before entering the premises, including thermal scanning, disinfection, and filling out a health declaration form for contact tracing purposes.

Zamora reminded visitors to observe physical distancing as well as wearing of face masks and face shields inside the public and private cemeteries.

He said visiting cemeteries have no age restrictions provided that the destination of a household is direct to the cemeteries, memorial parks, and columbariums only.

No selling of candles, flowers

The city government disallowed the selling of candles, flowers, or any kinds of food and drinks inside the cemeteries.

“Nais ko kayong abisuhan na bumili na ho kayo sa mga tindahan sa inyong mga barangay ng mga kakailanganin ninyo bago kayo dumalaw dito po ating mga sementeryo (I would like to advise you to secure your needs within your barangays prior to your visitation schedule in the cemeteries),” Zamora said, as he urged the public not to hold gatherings to prevent the further transmission of Covid-19 in the city.

Zamora reiterated that IATF resolution states that all private and public cemeteries and memorial parks including columbariums nationwide will be closed to visitors during “Undas” season, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 24.

The reservation process for the visitation period in San Juan’s private and public cemeteries is a “first-come, first-serve basis,” according to Zamora.

“Tayo po ay magiging patas sa implementation nito at depende yan kung sino ang mauuna sa inyo sa pagpili ng petsa at oras (We will be fair in implementing this and it will depend on who will be the first one to reserve the date and time),” Zamora said.

The visitation time slot will start from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. every two hours only until 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Zamora added, so that the last batch to visit would have time to go home before the 10 p.m. curfew.

The mayor said the number of visitors in the area shall be limited to a maximum of 30 percent of the venue capacity, which is 270 individuals every two hours.

“On Oct. 1, we will start accepting reservations,” he said, noting that the local order will be strictly implemented to ensure that everyone is safe against the risks of Covid-19 infection.

Covid-19 cases

Zamora, meanwhile, reported that the city’s Covid-19 active cases are decreasing.

As of Sept. 28, the city recorded a total of 217 active cases with 2,427 recovered patients.

“Base sa mga datos na ito nakikita natin ay bumababa na ang bilang ng mga active ng Covid-19 dito sa San Juan kung kaya’t ayaw natin maging pabaya, gusto natin na tuluy-tuloy na bumaba ito upang tuluyan na nating masugpo ang pandemyang ito (Based on these data, we see that the number of active cases in San Juan is decreasing and we don’t want to be complacent. We are targeting the continuous reduction of these cases so that we can completely suppress this pandemic),” Zamora said.

Zamora said almost 600 active cases were recorded at the beginning of September and dramatically went down to 217 cases as of posting.

“Umaasa po ako sa inyong tulong, suporta at kooperasyon ay kaya nating maibaba pa ito (I am asking for your help, support and cooperation to reduce cases further),” Zamora said as he lauded the residents for being disciplined and adhering to the minimum health standards.

The city government continues to conduct targeted mass testing using the polymerase chain reaction method for Covid-19 testing.

Zamora urged residents who have flu-like symptoms to coordinate with the city health office or the barangay health emergency response team for Covid-19 testing.

Zamora said all positive cases in the city should be isolated in quarantine facilities.

All Covid-19 patients will receive financial assistance amounting to PHP3,000 which they can use while they are isolated. (PNA)