Navotas to be placed on 14-day lockdown

MANILA, Philippines – Navotas will be placed on a citywide 14-day “residential lockdown” beginning on Thursday until July 29 to prevent residents from leaving their homes for non-essential reasons amid the spike in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, Mayor Toby Tiangco announced yesterday.

“The lockdown is for city residents who do not have business to go outside,” Tiangco said in an interview on dzBB. “We will be strict about leisurely activities such as exercising outside. It seems that the people’s mindset under general community quarantine (GCQ) is that they can do anything they want outside. We have no choice but to do this because they are hardheaded.”

He said business establishments are still allowed to open and workers can still go to work.

Tiangco said he decided to impose a lockdown after seeing children allowed by their parents to go outside and play while Metro Manila remains under GCQ.

The mayor warned parents that they could be fined up to P1,000.

Tiangco told The STAR they would set up checkpoints and only delivery trucks would be allowed to enter the city.

Food deliveries outside Navotas will not be allowed during the lockdown, he added.

He said cases of COVID-19 in Navotas continue to rise because family members infected each other in their homes.

As of Sunday, there were 931 cases of COVID-19 in Navotas.