President Rodrigo Duterte interacts with the personnel of the Office of the President after leading the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Kalayaan Grounds of Malacaٌan Palace on Dec. 1, 2021. (File photo by KING RODRIGUEZ / Presidential Photographers Division)
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte believes “better days are ahead” as the COVID-19 situation in the country continues to improve.
“There are better days ahead because since Dec. 1, we are having an average of 500 to 600 COVID-cases and the number of active cases continues to go down,” he said in his weekly public address that aired late Monday night.
He also pointed out that the country’s COVID-19 positivity rate was on a “downward trend,” currently at less than 2%.
The government was also able to administer a total of 10.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3, during a massive three-day national vaccination drive.
“[This] is a huge achievement against COVID-19. I would like to thank the doctors, the volunteers and all, of course, Secretary Duque and Galvez, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Filipino people,” he said.
Duterte was referring to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the national vaccine manager.
He said the government would launch a second vaccination drive from Dec. 15 to 17, during which he hoped to see the “same success.”
He downplayed, however, projected economic growth in 2022, saying the Philippines “still has to worry about the coming Omicron variant and how it will impact” the country.
Good Christmas
Duterte hopes Filipinos would have a good Christmas this year, saying that he was “very happy” with the decline of COVID-19 cases in the country.
He called it a “miracle” since other countries were still bearing the brunt of the pandemic, especially with the emergence of the Omicron variant.
“ We are not hoping for the best, but we pray to God that it will not come [Omicron variant] to our shores. But if ever it arrives, we hope we can cope with it just as we did with [other variants of] COVID-19,” he said.
The Department of Health (DOH) has classified the Philippines as “minimal risk” for COVID-19, with Metro Manila tagged as “low risk.”
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