FILE PHOTO: Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (Photo from an RTVM video posted on Facebook)
MANILA, Philippines — The 47-percent increase in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila should be a “wake up call” to local government units to intensify their implementation of strategies to curb transmission of the coronavirus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Tuesday.
“Dito sa NCR [National Capital Region] tumaas tayo ng mga 47 percent nitong linggong ito compared sa nakaraang linggo,” Duque said.
(Here in the NCR, our cases increased about 47 percent this week compared to last week.)
“Kaya’t dapat ito’y wake-up call sa ating mga pamahalaang lokal na talagang intensify, paigtingin, palawigin ang lahat po ng ating mga stratehiya na napatunayan na epektibo noong unang surge natin noong nakaraang taon,” he added.
(That’s why this should be a wake-up call to our local government units to intensify our strategies proven effective when we had a surge last year.)
The OCTA Research said Metro Manila recorded an average 964 new cases from July 19 to 25, a 47 percent increase from the previous week’s average of 651 cases.
Duque stressed that vaccination is among the key strategies to prevent further increase in the number of cases.
“Ngayon, awa ng Diyos, gumaganda ang ating supply ng bakuna. At susi ito, at isa ito sa mga stratehiya para mabigyan ng karagdagang proteksyon ang ating mga kababayan at maibsan ang pagtaas muli ng kaso ng COVID sa bansa,” he said.
(Now, by God’s mercy, our vaccine supply is improving. This is key and among the strategies to give protection to our countrymen and prevent the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.)
The Philippines has so far detected 119 cases of the more transmissible Delta variant.
Due to the threat of the Delta variant, the government retightened protocols in Metro Manila and the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Davao de Oro, and Davao del Norte by placing it under general community quarantine “with heightened restrictions” until July 31.