All four mayors from Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) on Thursday confirmed that they would be undergoing self-quarantine as a precautionary measure against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco said three local officials were at the same event attended by Cabinet officials currently on self-quarantine after they interacted with a patient who had tested positive for COVID-19.
In a text message to the Inquirer, Tiangco confirmed that the event in question was the March 5 inspection of a portion of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Harbor Link project.
Besides Tiangco, other attendees were Mayors Oscar Malapitan of Caloocan, Lenlen Oreta of Malabon and Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela, as well as Navotas Rep. John Rey Tiangco, Valenzuela Rep. Eric Martinez and Vice Mayor Clint Geronimo.
Under monitoring
President Duterte also attended the event, as well as Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.
Sen. Bong Go on Thursday said Mr. Duterte would be tested, while the other officials in that event are already under quarantine.
“I came face to face with the Cabinet secretaries who decided to go on self-quarantine,” Tiangco said. “I do not feel any symptoms but I decided on doing this for the safety of everyone around me.”
Caloocan is the lone city in Camanava with a coronavirus case, although Case No. 21 confined in Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Tala is actually a resident of Bulacan. He is a 58-year-old man with no travel history to a virus-affected country.
As of 8 a.m. on Thursday, the hospital said they had eight persons under investigation.
In Navotas, Tiangco has ordered the daily inspection of all computer shops and internet cafes to make sure that students or children do not stay in these establishments beyond the city’s 10 p.m. curfew.
Under Executive Order No. 020, the Business Permits and Licensing Office is directed to strictly enforce an ordinance prohibiting the entry of minors after 10 p.m., except when they are accompanied by a parent of guardian.
‘Yorme’ under quarantine
The move followed Mr. Duterte’s declaration of a public health emergency on Monday, following the rise in COVID-19 cases.
In Manila, Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said late Wednesday that he would undergo self-quarantine, after his arrival from the United Kingdom (UK) where the pandemic has already claimed eight lives, as of this reporting.
Other city hall officials who accompanied Domagoso in the UK also placed themselves under voluntary isolation.
“I just submitted myself to be tested by the Department of Health (DOH),” Domagoso said.
24-hour hotline“Yorme,” as Domagoso is also popularly called, would stay at the city hall during his quarantine, according to the Manila public information office. Out of the 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, Domagoso said only one patient of the confirmed is a resident of Manila and is currently confined in a private hospital outside the city.
The city government’s Emergency Operations Center has a 24-hour hotline, 8527-5174. —WITH A REPORT from NIKKA G. VALENZUELA