BY JOSEPH PEDRAJAS
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Mayor Toby Tiangco announced on Monday that he will place Navotas City under two-week lockdown as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Navotas amid the eased quarantine measures in Metro Manila.
Tiangco said the lockdown would start until additional police forces arrive.
“Basta makuha ko ‘yung (police) augmentation, we will just give one day notice and we will proceed,” he said. “’Yun na lang ‘yung hinihintay ko, ‘yung augmentation from the national government.”
Policemen, with the help of barangay officials, will man the streets to ensure that the lockdown is strictly enforced.
During the lockdown, Tiangco said that residents, except qualified workers, will not be allowed to go outside their houses. They are also prohibited from doing leisure activities and exercises which have been approved in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ).
He added that the use of quarantine passes will once again take effect. Qualified businesses are the only ones allowed to open and residents can go to the market only three times a week, depending on their scheduled day.
Tiangco said the city government will also conduct some 300 “random” COVID-19 tests on residents daily. He said that the more number of cases in an area, the more number of tests will be conducted.
The city chief executive ordered the lockdown as he is apparently getting frustrated with the rising number of COVID-19 cases in turf despite pleas to his constituents.
