Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Friday ordered the city’s 142 barangays to stay vigilant against the new strain of the coronavirus amid recent reports that it has been detected in the country.
She directed village officials to closely monitor residents arriving from abroad, especially those from at least 20 countries where the new virus strain has spread — the United Kingdom, Middle East, Turkey, the Netherlands, France, Australia, and China, among others.
“Following the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure,’ we are now focused on stopping the new virus strain from spreading here,” Belmonte said.
She said the city plans to request hotels currently being used as quarantine facilities to give the city a list of names of city residents who are registered in their facilities.
The city government also wants to seek help from the Bureau of Quarantine in identifying its residents who are returning from other countries.
Joseph Juico, QC Task Force on COVID-19 head, assured residents the city government has consistently ramped up its contact tracing efforts, improved quarantine facilities and expanded testing capabilities.
“Prior to this report of a new strain, we have established a good strategy to improve surveillance, and control surges, upticks and possibly this new COVID-19 variant,” he said.
He vowed to continuously remind residents to strictly follow basic health protocols amid reports of increased transmission rate of the new variant through an intensified communication campaign.