(Eagle News) — The University of the Philippines-Diliman is closing its public spaces on specific days amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.
In an advisory, UPD said the whole of Academic Oval, the College of Human Kinetics, the National Science Complex, the PAUW-UP Child Study Center, and bike routes, among others, will be closed to the public every Friday afternoon, starting 4 p.m., until Sunday evening “until further notice.”
The university said the schedule of the temporary closure starts on Friday, March 12.
According to UPD, campus residents are allowed to conduct outdoor exercises only in their respective areas.
They were also urged to always observe safety health protocols such as the wearing of face masks and face shields, and social distancing of at least two meters.
“This is a health and safety measure amid the surge in cases in UPD and associated with COVID-19 and its new variants,” the university said.
The OCTA research group has observed an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, a fact it attributed to the presence of COVID-19 virus variants in the Philippines.
The Department of Health has said, however, that the variants exacerbated the increase of cases, which are directly attributed to increased mobility and the failure to follow safety health protocols.