Manila cancels all Chinese New Year activities over COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines — The city of Manila, home to the oldest Chinatown in the world, is cancelling all Chinese New Year celebrations to avoid the further spread of the coronavirus amid the specter of its new and potentially more infectious variant.
Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno is prohibiting all street parties, stage shows, parades, street games and dragon dances from February 11 to February 12.
“The activities during the New Year celebration, if not cancelled, can be surely an easy medium of COVID-19 spread and transmission thereby endangering the health, well-being and safety not only of residents but also their visitors who will join them in the celebration,” Moreno said in an executive order issued Friday.
Moreno also ordered a ban on the use of firecrackers and directed the strict implementation of an ordinance that prohibits drinking in public.
The local chief executive said that this was also to preserve the gains of the city in controlling the spread of COVID-19. — Xave Gregorio
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