QC legislative building temporarily closed as 3 councilors, workers contract COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City’s legislative building will be closed for around five days, starting July 15 (Wednesday) after three councilors and several other employees were found positive for the latest coronavirus strain.

According to a post on the city’s official Facebook page on Tuesday, Vice Mayor and City Council Presiding Officer Gian Sotto said that the legislative building would only be opened once the City Epidemiology & Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) finishes doing contact tracing and containment measures.

Quezon City’s local government, however, did not mention who the councilors are, and for what districts or offices the employees infected work for.

“Upon the recommendation of the [CESU], the Quezon City Legislative Building will be temporarily closed after the results of three city councilors and several office staff(ers) came back positive for COVID-19,” the city said in the statement.

“The CESU will conduct exhaustive contact tracing as appropriate, and follow-up testing as necessary.  Everyone is encouraged to remain calm and vigilant as we continue the fight against COVID-19,” it added.

This is not the first area in the Quezon City Hall complex that was closed down due to the threat of the coronavirus.  Last July 8, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said that her office and other common areas of the city were closed temporarily after she admitted to contracting the disease.

As of Tuesday, Quezon City said the Department of Health has recorded 4,537 COVID-19 cases, of which 4,437 has been validated by CESU.  Of the total number of cases, 2,483 have recovered while 260 have died.