Valencia City, Bukidnon (CNN Philippines, March 28) — Some health and safety protocols were not followed during the service celebrating Palm Sunday at San Agustin Parish Church, the largest catholic church in Bukidnon.
Despite wearing face masks and face shields, churchgoers did not observe physical distancing, as they crowded the church to get their palm fronds blessed.
A church marshal was present to spray alcohol on the hands of churchgoers, but this was not enough to control the crowd.
Valencia City had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Bukidnon when the pandemic started in 2019.
So far, it has 607 confirmed cases, 592 recoveries, 13 deaths, and two active cases recorded as of March 25.
On Saturday, the country logged a total to 712,442 cases nationwide. The number of daily cases reached 9,595. It was the second consecutive day that the country recorded more than 9,000 new cases.
