Burnham Park during the Baguio City Lockdown on April 15, 2020. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Baguio City’s tourist volume is nearly back to its pre-pandemic level, its mayor said on Tuesday.
The number of tourists visiting Baguio is at “85 percent of our pre-pandemic level,” Mayor Benjamin Magalong said.
“Ang August, September mababa because of lean months because of the wet season, pero surprisingly mataas ang tourist arrivals,” he said in a televised public briefing.
(August and Septembers are usually lean months because of the wet season, but surprisingly, our tourist arrivals are high.)
Baguio has not seen a significant change in the tourist volume after the national government made the use of face masks optional in open areas.
“Sa ngayon hindi pa namin ma-determine kasi 2 weeks pa lang naman natin binago ang sistema,” Magalong said.
(We cannot determine it yet because it has only been 2 weeks since we changed the system.)
“Noong dineclare natin na optional na, parang lalo naman silang nag-ingat kaya nakakatuwa din,” he said.
(When it was made optional, it's as if people became more careful, it's also encouraging.)
For the past month, the coronavirus reproduction virus in Baguio has stayed below 1 percent, its mayor said.
So far, 83 percent of senior citizens in the city have received booster doses, while 62 percent of adults have also gotten an additional jab against COVID-19.
“Ang tinututukan namin ngayon is yung 11 to 17 years old [kasi] nandoon lang kami sa 26 percent,” Magalong said.
“Nakikipag-ugnayan kami sa mga DepEd at mga private schools na ischedule nila ang booster shots ng ating mga estudyante,” he added.
(We are focusing on the 11 to 17-year-olds because our jab rate there is only 26 percent. We are coordinating with the DepEd and private schools so they could schedule booster shots for our students.)