{"id":255625,"date":"2020-05-21T07:03:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T11:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=255625"},"modified":"2020-05-21T07:03:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T11:03:27","slug":"ph-still-on-first-wave-of-covid-19-infection-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/05\/21\/ph-still-on-first-wave-of-covid-19-infection-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"PH still on first wave of Covid-19 infection: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Roque, however, explained that while experts in the medical field may have different interpretations on scientific data, Palace was more inclined to other experts\u2019 opinion that the country is still on the first wave. (File Photo<\/a>: Senate of the Philippines\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday said the Philippines is still on the first wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection, stressing Health Secretary Francisco Duque’s interpretation of \u201cwaves\u201d simply differed from other experts.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after some Cabinet members contradicted Duque\u2019s statement saying the country is now experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cSabihin na lang natin, hindi nagkamali pero nagkaroon ng kakaibang opinyon<\/em>\u00a0(Let\u2019s just say he didn\u2019t make a mistake, but had a unique opinion),\u201d Roque said in a virtual presser.<\/p>\n

Roque, however, explained that while experts in the medical field may have different interpretations on scientific data, Palace was more inclined to other experts\u2019 opinion that the country is still on the first wave.<\/p>\n

\u201cLahat po ng propesyunal, iba-iba naman ang tingin, ang opinyon sa mga parehong siyensiya at parehong datos…Pero ang tingin ng marami, at marami naman po tayong kinunsulata, tatlong dalubhasa rin, kinakailangan basahin \u2018yan na kabahagi ng iisa lamang<\/em>\u00a0wave (All professionals interpret it differently, their opinion on the same science and the same data. But many think, and we have consulted many experts, at least three, that we need to read it as part of the first wave),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also admitted that Duque\u2019s statement on the supposed second wave was not communicated to President Rodrigo Duterte.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaya nga po nabanggit ng<\/em>\u00a0Executive Secretary\u00a0na wala pong ganyang impormasyon na nakarating kay Presidente na galing kay<\/em>\u00a0Secretary Duque.\u00a0Kumbaga meron po tayong\u00a0<\/em>protocol\u00a0na sinusunod, lahat po ng impormasyon, ipaparating muna sa Presidente at ang Presidente ang magsasabi sa taong<\/em>-bayan either personally or through our office (That\u2019s why Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said such information from Duque has not reached the President. We have a protocol that should be followed, all information should be relayed to the President and the President will announce it to the public either personally or through our office),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite these differing interpretations and terminologies, Roque explained that all experts agreed that it is necessary to take steps to prevent the number of Covid-19 cases from further increasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just on the terminology on when is the big wave coming.\u00a0Nagkakaisa po tayo na dapat maiwasan yung panibagong napadaming numero ng pagkakasakit na naman<\/em>\u00a0(We all agree that we should prevent another increase in the number of people getting sick),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To prevent a surge in Covid-19 infection, Roque assured that the government will not rush its decision to further relax quarantine protocols.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaka<\/em>\u00a0MECQ\u00a0pa rin ang<\/em>\u00a0Metro Manila\u00a0at hindi naman po tayo magmamadali para mai<\/em>-lift\u00a0ito kung hindi tayo sigurado na<\/em>\u00a0number 1\u00a0ang kurbada ay<\/em>\u00a0na<\/em>-flatten\u00a0at<\/em>\u00a0number two,\u00a0sapat po ang ating kakayahan upang magbigay ng<\/em>\u00a0critical care (Metro Manila is still under modified enhanced community quarantine and we are not in a hurry to lift this if we are not sure that the curve has flattened and that we have enough health capacity to provide critical care),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also apologized to the public for causing unnecessary alarm over a possible second wave of Covid-19 infection and assured that the government is working to prevent the situation from worsening.<\/p>\n

Conservative side<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roque, meanwhile, urged the public to continue observing quarantine protocols and good hygiene even after Duque, in citing the World Health Organization (WHO), said there is still no evidence that asymptomatic Covid-19 cases were contagious.<\/p>\n

\u201cSiyempre po<\/em>\u00a0the better view\u00a0is mag-ingat pa rin<\/em>\u00a0(Of course, the better view is to still be careful).\u00a0Kaya nga po ang importante ay<\/em>\u00a0(That\u2019s why what\u2019s important now is) testing, testing, testing. Let\u2019s veer towards the conservative side and let\u2019s consider the person next to you as a possible carrier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a hybrid Senate hearing on Wednesday, Duque disclosed that the Philippines is \u201cactually\u201d on the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, citing epidemiology experts.<\/p>\n

Epidemiology expert John Wong, in a televised press briefing with the Department of Health (DOH), said that the first Covid-19 wave in the country happened in late January when the Philippines recorded its first three confirmed cases.<\/p>\n

The second wave of the Covid-19 infection in the country peaked at the end of March, Wong, who is also part of the government task force on Covid-19 sub-technical working group on data and analytics, added.<\/p>\n

However, a number of Cabinet members including Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Interior Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o among others disputed Duque\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday (May 16), Metro Manila and other parts of the country at risk of Covid-19 infections transitioned to modified enhanced community quarantine with more industries allowed to open.<\/p>\n

Only the cities of Cebu and Mandaue remain under enhanced community quarantine while the rest of the country are under general community quarantine.<\/p>\n

Health authorities said that around 240,000 have been tested in the country.<\/p>\n

The government aims to test 1.5 percent to 2 percent of the population with a target goal of increasing the country’s testing capacity to 30,000 Covid-19 tests per day by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

There are 13,221 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country with 842 deaths so far and 2,932 recoveries as of May 20.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday said the Philippines is still on the first wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection, stressing Health …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":151243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255625","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\/255625","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\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255634,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255625\/revisions\/255634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}