Butuan banks cut working hours as Covid-19 cases spike
By Alexander Lopez
BUTUAN CITY– Banks here have agreed to reduce operating hours beginning Wednesday (June 24) amid the sudden spike of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases.
In a resolution issued Monday, the Butuan Bankers Club (BBC) directed its members to limit their banking hours from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.
Signed by BBC president Lou Jean Dadong, the resolution also emphasized the importance of social distancing, the wearing of masks, and the non-entry of clients with fever.
BBC also urged its members to suspend weekend banking.
The move came as the city recorded 16 new cases on June 20, and 11 cases a day before, most of which were attributed to returning locally-stranded individuals (LSIs) and returning Overseas Filipino Workers (ROFs).
It also came after the Department of Health confirmed that local transmission of the virus has already occurred in the city.
“The wisdom in amending the official banking hour is to widen the preservation and serious concern of public health in minimizing human contact and take precedence over any interest,” the BBC resolution said.
As of Tuesday, the city has 30 total Covid-19 cases, with four recoveries, and 85 suspect cases.
The BBC resolution cited the increase in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases as among the reasons for recommending the new guidelines on banking hours here.
The city currently is under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), which allows certain businesses to open, except for the 33 barangays placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). (PNA)
