Palace: Cemeteries, columbariums closed from Oct. 29 to November 4

All private and public cemeteries, memorial parks, and columbariums will be closed for a week during the commemoration of Undas next month.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) issued the decision on Thursday in its Resolution 72, Series of 2020 as part of its measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 in mass gatherings.

Under the new issuance, the nationwide closures will take effect from October 29 to November 4, 2020.

However, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said people will still be allowed to visit the graves of their departed loves ones before or after the said date on the condition they follow the necessary guidelines.

“The number of visitors shall be limited to a maximum of 30 percent of the venue capacity,” Roque said in an online briefing on Friday.

The visitors will also be required to wear face masks and face shields, as well as observe social distancing.

Roque noted children as well as senior citizens, who are not usually allowed to go out of their homes in areas under community quarantine, will be allowed to visit cemeteries, memorial parks and columbariums.

Filipinos traditionally commemorate Undas, or All Saints’ Day, by visiting cemeteries, memorial parks, and columbariums to remember and pray for their deceased loved ones.

Antigen testing

Aside for guidelines for the celebration of Undas, Resolution 72 the IATF also approved the recommendation of the Department of Health Technical Advisory Group to start the pilot studies for the use of Rapid Antigen Tests.

If approved, Roque said the measure will be a game changer since it will serve as a faster and cheaper option to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, which is currently the gold standard for Covid-19 testing.

He explained the antigen testing will still rely on swab samples and a machine for processing but he noted the result will be known in 10 to 20 minutes, which is shorter than RT-PCR which could take one to two days.

“The accuracy of the result does not vary much from that or PCR testing,” Roque said.

Furthermore, he also said the price of the kits for antigen is lower priced between P1,000 and P1,250.

He said Baguio City will be one of the areas covered by the pilot study, thus people who will be traveling their must undergo antigen testing first.

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Article originally posted by Business Mirror last September 18, 2020 and written by Samuel Medenilla.