The mayors of Metro Manila has decided to defer anew the reopening of cinemas and arcades in the metropolis due to the surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the area.

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Jr. told a national daily late on Saturday night that the Metro Manila Council (MMC) arrived at that decision after a four-hour meeting with the Department of Health (DoH). The MMC is composed to the mayors of Metro Manila and is the policy-making body of the MMDA.

Abalos said a resolution is being drafted on the suspension of the reopening of cinemas and arcades that may last for three to four weeks.

The decision of the Metro Manila mayors was arrived at just after Octa Research pointed out the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the metropolis. The research group said virus cases in Metro Manila averaged of 900 daily in the past week, which was 50 percent higher than what was reported from February 19 to 25, and 119 percent higher from two weeks ago.

It warned that the spike in Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila could have been caused by a “new and more contagious and lethal variants that could overwhelm the region if left unabated in the next few weeks.” The group, however, said that still needed to be confirmed through genome sequencing.