MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno has urged his constituents and other Filipinos as well to shun the mindset of relying on lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the public must learn to continue living despite the threat of the virus.
Moreno explained during his Friday briefing that one important way to ensure that people can go to work and do their tasks safely is by vaccinating the population and observing health standards — and not through lockdowns which are merely ‘band-aid’ solutions.
The local executive was reacting to concerns from his viewers, who were wary about the dreaded Delta variant causing widescale and even granular lockdowns in barangays.
“We must learn how to live with COVID-19. COVID-19 will stay, we will protect you by making vaccine available to you pero mga kababayan, we must learn how to live with COVID-19, ‘wag na tayong umasa sa mga salita-salita nino man (let’s not rely on other peoples’ words),” Moreno said in his Facebook livestream.
“Basta ang importante, magbakuna tayo, protektado tayo, mamuhay tayo (what’s important is that we get vaccinated and protected so that we can live), we can learn how to go back to work safely, we can learn how to go back to our tasks safely. And we don’t back to this not only safely but protected because we are vaccinated,” he added.
According to Moreno, the problem with lockdowns is that it hampers the economy, leaving people affected by the harsh restrictions without any income. But if widespread vaccination ensues, people can work safely due to the vaccines’ protection.
“Kapag naglockdown nang lockdown na naman tayo masisira na naman ang trabaho ng tao. Marami na namang magugutom, band-aid na band-aid ‘yon (lockdown),” he stressed. “Ito science na ‘to, vaccine is the solution, so we are in the right track.”
(When we do lockdowns again we would be hampering people from working. Many will go hungry, that’s just a band-aid solution. This one is based on science, that the vaccine is the solution, so we are on the right track.)
“‘Wag niyong intindihin ‘yong lockdown, puro na lang… basta tayo hangga’t kaya natin i-manage, in fact as much as possible kung tutulong kayo mga kababayan, hindi natin kailangan mag-lockdown,” he added.
(Do not mind the lockdowns, we’ve had enough of it. But for us, until we can manage the situation, in fact as much as possible if the public would help us, we do not need to do lockdowns.)
Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that 16 more COVID-19 patients were found to be infected by the dreaded Delta variant — including 11 local cases.
The Delta variant, first seen in India, has been characterized by increased transmissibility which led to record-breaking surges in the South Asian country during the second quarter of 2021, and is the cause of the recent surge that Indonesia is experiencing.
The situation in Indonesia has led health experts across the globe to monitor the Southeast Asian country as cases soar higher than previous surges.
READ: Delta variant puts brakes on return to post-COVID normality
The threat of the Delta variant has concerns from government officials as they believe the country cannot afford to experience another surge in cases. Vice President Leni Robredo earlier also asked the government to explore ways how people would be encouraged to be vaccinated against the disease, while urging officials to rollout the vaccines faster.
While the Philippines just recorded the highest single-day number of doses administered as of Wednesday, 14 million shots of which 10 million are first doses, the country is still way far from the number that it needs to hit.
Authorities are looking to vaccinate 70 percent of the population, or around 75 million, which would account for 150 million doses in total.
As of Friday, the country’s active COVID-19 case count is at 48,480, after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 5,676 more infected patients. The active case count accounts for 3.2 percent of all the 1,496,328 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines.