{"id":243951,"date":"2020-02-03T23:13:52","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T04:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=243951"},"modified":"2020-02-03T23:13:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T04:13:52","slug":"govt-not-withholding-info-on-ncov-duterte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/02\/03\/govt-not-withholding-info-on-ncov-duterte\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t not withholding info on nCoV: Duterte"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City on January 29, 2020. ALFRED FRIAS\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Rumors that the Department of Health (DOH) is withholding information on the true state of 2019-nCoV in the country to avoid causing panic is not true, said President Rodrigo Duterte, assuring that government has the situation under control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWala naman — wala namang itinago doon<\/em>\u00a0(There\u2019s nothing. nothing is being hidden). We will not… I can assure you. This government will never hide anything,\u201d Duterte said in a press conference in Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it says that you are going to die tomorrow because of this — it\u2019s a contagion all over, we will tell you that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Duterte said it was useless pretending that there were fewer persons under investigation for 2019-nCoV because it was not worth hiding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it would cost your life, lives, we will not hide that. Why should we? It’s a reality. Whether you admit it or not, you have to bury the dead. So what is there to hide? It’s not a treasure. It is not something of value to us. It does not contribute to the national wealth. Why should we hide?\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

Rumors that the DOH is hiding information made rounds of the internet particularly on the two 2019-nCoV cases whose confirmation was not released at the same time.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the country\u2019s second 2019-nCoV case, a 44-year-old Chinese male from Wuhan, China, died. He was the first reported death due to the deadly virus outside of China.<\/p>\n

He was the companion of the 38-year-old woman from Wuhan, China who was the first confirmed case of nCoV in the country.<\/p>\n

Nothing to fear<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duterte said the virus should not be a cause for panic since the government has the situation under control.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is well in the country. There\u2019s nothing really to be extra scared of that coronavirus thing. Although it has affected a lot of countries but in\u2026 You know one or two in any country is not really that fearsome,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

He urged the public to minimize hysterics and instead be vigilant in preventing the spread of the virus by observing proper hygiene and seeking medical treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, this coronavirus is scaring people all over the country. The response of the people from the initial reports of coronavirus was almost hysterical when there was really no need for it actually. And if there is really a virus going around, why do you have to be hysterical?\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don’t you just go to the hospital and have yourself treated? Or if you want (to be) quarantined if you suspect that you have acquired (it),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

With the help of \u201cmedical science\u201d, Duterte said powerful medicines have been formulated to treat various illnesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure I said that every nation who has the resources would or already are at work to find out a solution or a way out,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalay mo \u2018yung atin<\/em>\u00a0(Who knows we)— the Filipinos are also doing it. They are conducting\u2026 Who knows that\u00a0tayo ang maka-una makita<\/em>\u00a0(we could be the first to find a treatment),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Currently, there is no specific treatment recommended for 2019-nCoV. Instead, supportive care is given to infected individuals to help relieve symptoms.<\/p>\n

Quarantine facilities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the government has yet to decide on a quarantine facility to house Filipinos from Hubei province who are expected to be repatriated this week, Duterte raised the possibility of expropriation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I will expropriate.\u00a0Kunin ko \u2018yung<\/em>\u00a0building\u00a0mo<\/em>\u00a0(I will acquire your building) whether you like it or not. In times of emergency, I can\u2026 I can always\u2026 It is confiscatory in nature,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou confiscate. Then you make it a hospital. Bring in the equipment and you stay there inside the building where the egress and ingress are controlled,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana bared that the DOH is eyeing the drug rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija as a possible quarantine facility for Filipinos returning from Wuhan, China.<\/p>\n

Fort Magsaysay can accommodate up to 10,000 people, the DOH said.<\/p>\n

More face masks<\/strong><\/p>\n

As more drug and medical supply stores continue to run out of surgical face masks, Duterte said that the government will be procuring more supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re asking, is the government doing something to buy more, to protect more? Yes, we are doing it. We are not just sitting down here. That’s why we called for this conference and we have resources coming in,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

Duterte said the virus caused the increased demand for face masks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supply is depleted because there is an emergency and there’s a need for it. So everybody is buying,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s the reason why there is a scarce supply in the market. Without the virus, the — the masks are not being sold by the thousands.\u00a0Eh may<\/em>\u00a0virus\u00a0eh kaya ‘yung<\/em>\u00a0virus\u00a0ang nagpamahal niyan<\/em>\u00a0(There’s a virus that\u2019s why it\u2019s the virus making it expensive),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Earlier, the Chinese government donated a total of 200,000 surgical masks amid a reported shortage in the country, according to Malaca\u00f1ang.<\/p>\n

Funeral car<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the threat of being infected with the fast-spreading virus, the 74-year-old President said he was not limiting his public engagements to avoid getting sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my time comes, it will come. When your time comes, we will know because you will be absent. And we will not see you anymore,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

He admitted that he continues to shake hands with several people, especially in events.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, when my time comes, you will know. Because I will go out of Malaca\u00f1an in a funeral car,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Rumors that the Department of Health (DOH) is withholding information on the true state of 2019-nCoV in the country …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":243821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243952,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243951\/revisions\/243952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}