Three congressmen are calling for an investigation into a COVID-19 “superspreading event” in Quezon City that involved over 6,000 residents who were “recklessly” asked to assemble for the handout of food packs.

In House Resolution No. 1884, Representatives Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan), Rodante Marcoleta (SAGIP) and Anthony Peter Crisologo (Quezon City) urged the appropriate House committee to probe the incident in Barangay Matandang Balara that sparked the rapid spread of new COVID-19 cases and the lockdown of whole neighborhoods.

“It was a mess. The event organizers did not even bother to get the names, addresses and contact details of the attendees, so the authorities are now at a loss as to how to carry out any contact tracing,” Defensor said.

The affair has since caused COVID-19 cases in the barangay to surge to 197 in less than a week, forcing officials to quarantine thousands of residents and shut down six streets.

Preliminary reports indicate that at least 73 residents who attended the event sponsored by a city councilor have since contracted the highly contagious respiratory disease.

“We support the distribution of food supplies to residents, but these should preferably be given out to families door-to-door. Officials should avoid asking people to congregate all together in one place,” Defensor said.

“All unnecessary large gatherings are potential superspreading events,” he pointed out.

A superspreading event is an occasion in which an infectious disease gets quickly transmitted to many individuals who in turn transfer the illness to even more people.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is now investigating the event but Defensor and his colleagues want the House to conduct its own inquiry.