Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco on Friday said the continuous rise of COVID-19 cases in the city has affected its capacity to provide basic services to the residents.
Tiangco said there are already five barangay halls that have been temporarily shut down after some of its officials tested positive for COVID-19.
The barangay halls which were shut down for disinfection and further prevention of virus spread were San Jose's, Bangkulasi's, San Rafael Village's, North Bay Boulevard North's, and North Bay Boulevard South-Properhad's.
"Our barangay official and employees underwent swab test from March 13-19. Among those tested, 142 turned out positive, forcing us to close some barangay halls," Mayor Tiangco said.
"Because of the lockdowns, services of the barangays have been affected. There were fewer tanods to patrol alleys and streets, or garbage collectors to pick up wastes," he added.
Last February 24, the Navotas city hall was also placed under lockdown for the same reason.
"Even our city hall and the out-patient department of the Navotas City Hospital had to close down for two weeks due to COVID cases. If this continues, we will soon face the difficulty of providing basic services to our constituents," Mayor Tiangco said.
Mayor Tiangco meanwhile urged his constituents to observe safety protocols and stay home.
"We have confirmed cases of the more transmissible COVID variants - B117 or the UK variant and B1351 or the South African variant. We must double our efforts to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from the disease," he reminded.
On March 25, Navotas recorded 239 new cases of COVID-19, increasing the city's total tally to 1,245.