{"id":260758,"date":"2020-07-07T21:35:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T01:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=260758"},"modified":"2020-07-07T21:35:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T01:35:22","slug":"spike-in-covid-19-cases-expected-but-not-alarming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/07\/07\/spike-in-covid-19-cases-expected-but-not-alarming\/","title":{"rendered":"Spike in Covid-19 cases \u2018expected but not alarming\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace already expects the continuing rise in Covid-19 infections in the country, considering that there is still no vaccine or drug to treat people infected with the new coronavirus. (File photo: Presidential Photo via PNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The sudden increase in confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid19) cases in the Philippines no longer came as a surprise, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace already expects the continuing rise in Covid-19 infections in the country, considering that there is still no vaccine or drug to treat people infected with the new coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi na po nakakapagtaka \u2018yung pagtaas ng kaso ng<\/em>\u00a0Covid\u00a0habang wala pa pong bakuna, habang wala pa pong gamot<\/em>\u00a0(The spike in Covid-19 cases is no longer surprising because there is still no vaccine or drug against the disease),\u201d Roque said in a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4.<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday, the Philippines has logged 47,873 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 12,386 recoveries and 1,309 deaths.<\/p>\n

The Philippines is now the second country in Southeast Asia with highest Covid-19 cases after it surpassed Singapore\u2019s coronavirus count on Monday. Indonesia continues to top the list of countries in the region with over 60,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases.<\/p>\n

Roque allayed public fears, saying that the rising number of Covid-19 infections in the country should not be a cause for alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cSa akin po, wala naman pong dahilan para mabahala<\/em>\u00a0(For me, there is no reason to be worried),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On July 1, Roque was ecstatic over the country\u2019s \u201csmall victory\u201d after the University of the Philippines (UP) researchers\u2019 prediction of 40,000 Covid-19 cases in the Philippines by June 30 was not realized.<\/p>\n

On June 30, around 37,514 Covid-19 infections have been recorded in the country.<\/p>\n

Roque on July 2 acknowledged that the country is still facing a \u201cbig problem\u201d due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Still winning the battle<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his latest remarks, Roque believed that the Philippines is \u201cstill winning\u201d in its fight against Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always say, we are winning against Covid-19,\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Roque said the measures imposed against Covid-19 remain successful because the number of people dying and acquiring Covid-19 continues to decline.<\/p>\n

\u201cHabang hindi po namamatay ang tao, habang mayroon pa tayong kapasidad na mag-bigay ng medical na lunas sa mga nagkakasakit, hindi ko po matatanggap na tayo po ay hindi nananalo dito sa sakit na ito<\/em>\u00a0(I will not accept that we are not winning against this disease, as long as only few people are dying and we have the capacity to provide medical care),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque said he respects the opinion of other people who think the government\u2019s efforts are ineffective to arrest the further spread of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung sa tingin po ninyo talaga na tayo ay hindi nagwawagi, nasa inyo na po \u2018yun<\/em>\u00a0(If you think we are not winning, that\u2019s up to you),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bigger responsibility on public<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amid the continuing battle against Covid-19, Roque said Filipinos now have the \u201cbigger responsibility\u201d to contain Covid-19.<\/p>\n

He said the fight against the novel coronavirus would only be successful, if people continue to heed government\u2019s call to observe strict physical distancing, use of face masks and regular handwashing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSa ating bagong istratehiya ay binibigyan din natin ng mas malaking responsibilidad na ang mga indibidwal. Nasa kamay niyo na po ang mangyayari sa inyong kalusugan<\/em>\u00a0(Our new strategy is to give people bigger responsibility [in fighting Covid-19]. The status of our health now lies in your hands),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Roque also advised the public to avoid mass gatherings even after the government relaxed its health and quarantine protocols.<\/p>\n

He reiterated his warning that the disease would spread faster in the event that people become complacent and ignore the call to avoid large crowds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHinihingi lang po natin ang kooperasyon ng lahat<\/em>\u00a0(We are just asking for the cooperation of everyone),\u201d Roque said.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The sudden increase in confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid19) cases in the Philippines no longer came as a surprise, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":253412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260758","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=260758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260759,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260758\/revisions\/260759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}