The interventions of the national government have efficiently helped the local government of Navotas to control the local transmission and halt the sudden spike of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) within the city, Mayor Toby Tiangco said on Tuesday.

Tiangco said the assistance provided by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) and the National Task Force (NTF) has effectively slowed down the positivity rate of Covid-19 in Navotas.

“All of this hindi namin magagawa kung walang tulong ang national government (We can’t do all of this without the help of the national government),” he said during the visit of officials of the Covid-19 Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team headed by the NTF against Covid-19, and the AITF in Navotas City.

Tiangco said the Navotas government will continue to work together with the IATF and the NTF to ensure a smooth crisis response and management within the city.

“What we can assure to you [is that] we will have the political will to implement what has to be implemented,” he added.

The city government has recorded a lower Covid-19 positivity rate after boosting its efforts and responses to prevent the spread of Covid-19 with the support of the national government, he said.

Tiangco said the IATF and the NTF have helped Navotas City to improve its isolation facilities, local testing capacity, and other quarantine efforts.

The IATF and the NTF have been sharing Navotas’ best practices during their visits to the other local government units (LGUs).

Navotas’ pandemic response

As of September 7, Navotas has recorded an 87.9 percent of recovery rate at 3,392 out of a total 4, 519 confirmed cases. Of it, only 9.3 percent or 421 are active cases while 2.8 percent or 126 have died due to the disease.

According to the Navotas City Health Office, the surge of cases in the middle of July has prompted the city to impose localized lockdowns, which help with the decrease in coronavirus cases.

The intensified isolation measures and testing capacity, it said, slowed down the increase of Covid-19 cases in the city.

The health office said the local government has been tracking the city’s individual cases through the use of the Navotas City Health Office tracker.

Navotas is keen on imposing granular lockdowns to villages with high risk of Covid-19, while conducting regular monitoring of households during lockdowns.

Meanwhile, Tiangco said the national government has helped the city improve its testing capacity.

From only 200 tests per day, it increased to 2,000 tests per day.

The home quarantine procedure in the city is strictly not allowed, Tiangco said.

The city government is also intensifying its contact tracing capacity to curb local transmission of the virus in Navotas.

Tiangco appealed to the national government to continue providing support to Navotas City as harmonization of pandemic response and efforts can sustain the flattening of the curve of Covid-19.

During the visit, the Department of Health (DOH) turned over face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) gears, and hygiene kits to the local government, as part of the “Masks Para sa Masa program,” a government plan which aims to provide about 30 million free domestically manufactured washable face masks to Filipinos amid the crisis. (PNA)