Early to tell if PH has reached ‘peak’ of COVID-19 outbreak — WHO exec

Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO representative to the Philippines. INQUIRER.net file photo / Cathrine Gonzales

MANILA, Philippines — The country representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Philippines on Tuesday said it is still early to tell if the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country has already reached its peak.

To date, the Philippines has so far confirmed over 57,000 COVID-19 cases, including 20,371 recoveries and 1,599 deaths.

“The numbers of affected still are not a significant proportion if you look at it from the point of view of the global population or the population here in the Philippines,” Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said during a Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) online forum.

“It is still early for us to say whether the outbreak has reached the peak, in most probability, it has not reached,” he added.

According to Abeyasinghe, the government should exhaust all efforts to ensure the implementation of a  comprehensive response against the pandemic “so that we can reduce the number of people getting infected.”

The WHO official, meanwhile, urged the public to remain compliant with health protocols as the country opens up the economy.

“We are aware that the Philippines needs to open up its economy. And so, as I mentioned, it’s about how we manage the pandemic, how we manage the rising number of cases,” he said.

“What is necessary is that, as the economy continues to open up, everybody in the Philippines follows the guidelines, maintains physical distancing as we come back to work, as we get our economic going,” Abeyasinghe added.

“If we don’t do this, we are going to contribute to further increasing transmission,” he further said.

JPV