MANILA, Philippines — The growing concern over the spread of the new coronavirus prompted the Baguio City government to cancel all events of the ongoing Panagbenga Flower Festival.
“We are completely canceling the Panagbenga,” Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Monday.
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The tourist-favorite city also suspended the operations of the night market along Harrison Road and “pedestrianization” of Session Road every Sunday, which both draw large crowds.
The Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association sports meet was also suspended.
Travelers from across the country are expected to flock to Baguio City—dubbed as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines”—as the dry season begins.
Magalong made the announcement after President Rodrigo Duterte placed the country under a state of public health emergency. With the proclamation, all government agencies and local government units are ordered to cooperate and mobilize resources to combat the virus.
The Philippines has so far reported 20 cases of the potentially-deadly illness, with most of the cases detected only in the last four days.
Roughly 110,000 individuals have been infected worldwide and nearly 3,800 have died from the virus that causes COVID-19.