Navotas preparing to shift into general community quarantine: mayor

MANILA - The city of Navotas is preparing to shift into a general community quarantine (GCQ) should the national government ease the lockdown in Metro Manila on June 1, Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco said Monday.

Navotas earlier asked national government to place 10 villages under strict lockdown or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) as there were still some 900 persons awaiting their test results for the coronavirus, according to Mayor Toby Tiangco.

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"Ang hirap kasi dito sa pending hindi nila sinusunod ang home quarantine. Imagine kung 900 'yan, ang hirap talaga bantayan niyan at syempre by the time na lumabas ang results na positive sila, maaaring madami na silang nahawa," he told ANC.

"Naghahanda na tayo for GCQ on June 1. Mahirap naman 'yung mag-GCQ na hindi tayo nakahanda. Kung i-extend 'yung MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine), wala namang mawawala kung naghanda na tayo for GCQ."

As of Monday, the city has 163 confirmed cases of COVID-19, while 864 are pending results, Tiangco said.

The city also uses police software and an app for contact tracing, he added. The RC143 app, however, is currently only available to Android users, according to the mayor.

"Yung PNP meron silang software diyan, 'yun ang ginagamit nila... It’s a software they use to track criminal elements. Pero wag kayo matakot, ginagamit lang 'yung software na 'yun (for contact tracing)," he said.

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