Belmonte not inclined to impose city-wide quarantine in Quezon City

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said on Friday she was not inclined on placing the entire city under quarantine to restrict movements and activities to curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"You are advised to do that, but I cannot state, categorically, that we will comply, with declaring Quezon City as a quarantined community in itself," she said in Saleema Refran's report on 24 Oras.

Instead, Belmonte said strict compliance to various measures against the spread of the virus is being encouraged and enforced.

Quezon City has seven confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Barangay health emergency response teams started training in the proper use of personal protective equipment to shield them against infection as they attend to COVID-19 patients.

"'Yung naiinfect kasi malalaking chances 'yun 'yung mga health workers na exposed sa mga ganito at ayaw naman natin i-sacrifice 'yung safety ng ating mga front liners in the barangay," Myke Marasigan, head of the QC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

"Ganoon din kami. That's why we have to make sure that we know how to handle proper wearing of personal protective equipment," he added.

Belmonte noted that Quezon City is the biggest city in Metro Manila.

"Ang lungsod Quezon po ang pinakamalaking lungsod sa Metro Manila, comprising 25% of the Metropolis... Sa laki at lawak po ng aming lungsod ay kinakailangan ko po talaga ang support ng 142 barangays," she said.

According to the report, the local government is awaiting more details of the guideline on the implementation of the community quarantine in Metro Manila.

As of now, employees living outside Metro Manila may still enter and leave their area provided that they show company IDs at checkpoints.

Trucks of food and supplies will also still be allowed entry. However, some restrictions will be imposed on its carriers.

"Kailangan pa rin natin mag-set up ng checkpoints doon sa mga boundaries na 'yan," Belmonte said.

Belmonte on Friday placed the city under a state of calamity to allow them to use funds in fighting the disease. —Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News