MINORS should stay inside their homes during the holiday season as they are also at risk for contracting the coronavirus, the Philippine Department of Health advised on Wednesday, December 2.

“Our position has not changed. As much as possible, we discourage that because the risk is still there,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III maintained.

He added, “Around 3% to 5% of our total infected cases are children. They’re not exempted from getting infected.”

His statement came after the Department of the Interior and Local Government urged the Metro Manila Council (MMC) to draft unified guidelines for allowing minors to enter malls.

According to Duque, children can be spreaders of the virus despite not showing severe symptoms.

“When they talk or hug their family members, children could cause transmission and we would have a high infection rate,” he explained.

Metro Manila mayors, for their part, consulted with the Philippine Pediatric Society before coming up with a decision.

“Mayors are not experts in the medical field. And if a surge happens, mayors will be blamed. It’s good to hear the opinion of experts in that field,” Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia said in an interview on radio DZBB.

Once the MMC receives the experts’ input, it will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the matter and vote on the decision.

Currently, only residents aged 18 to 65 can go outside of their homes and visit malls.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to keep Metro Manila under general community quarantine (GCQ) for the entire month of December.

Aside from the capital region, seven other areas will be under GCQ until December 31, namely: Batangas, Iloilo City, Tacloban City, Lanao del Sur, Iligan, Davao City, and Davao del Norte.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Philippines will be under modified GCQ, the least stringent quarantine classification in the country.