‘No need to lock down 25 Quezon City barangays’

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government sees no reason to place 25 barangays on special concern lockdown as proposed earlier by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles to aggressively pursue the government’s National Action Plan against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The city government clarified that it has not decided whether to place the barangays on lockdown.

“As of now, there’s no reason to lock down the barangays mentioned by Secretary Nograles. But we are studying the suggestions of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases),” city hall said in a statement on Sunday.

Last week, Nograles said he submitted to the local government the list of barangays that could be placed on lockdown due to the rising cases of COVID-19 infections in the communities.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said she clarified the matter with Nograles and assured him of the city’s coordination with the IATF.

She assured the residents that the local government has control over the situation.

“The designation of ‘big brothers’ by the administration in local government units aims to speed up coordination in addressing the pandemic and not for (them) to interfere with the regulations and management of the LGU,” the city government said.

As of Saturday, there were 8,589 COVID-19 cases in Quezon City. Of the figure, 8,488 cases were validated by the city’s Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.

Recoveries totaled 5,982 while the death toll remained at 357.