Palace on flattening COVID-19 curve: We’re getting there

Published May 22, 2020, 10:36 AM

Malacañang said the country is slowly flattening the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) curve as it maintained that the Philippines is still on the first wave of the pandemic.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after President Duterte debunked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s earlier claim that the Philippines was already riding the pandemic’s second wave.

In an interview with GMA’s Unang Hirit, Roque reiterated that the country was still dealing with the first wave of COVID-19 and that health experts may have different opinions on the same data.

“Ang tingin nga namin dito hindi po pwedeng maging first wave ang tatatlo lamang kaso lalong-lalo naman po na hindi ito community-acquired (We think the first three confirmed cases cannot be the first wave because it was not community-acquired),” he said Friday.

“Tumaas nga po ang kaso pagdating ng Marso at hanggang ngayon po pababa pa lang ang mga kaso pero hindi pa natin tuluyan nafa-flatten yung tinatawag na curve (The number spiked on March and it’s slowly declining. However, we still have not flattened the curve),” he added.

Roque renewed the Palace’s appeal to the public to continue cooperating with the government by following quarantine protocols especially now that the Philippines is supposedly slowly flattening the curve.

“Papunta na po tayo doon… Sana po ‘wag umabot sa second wave dahil pa-flatten pa lang po ang first wave (We’re slowly flattening the curve… We hope there won’t be a second wave because we’re just starting to flatten the first wave now),” he said.

“Kaya nga po importante, nakikiusap pa rin ako bagama’t binuksan na po natin nang bahagya ang ating ekonomiya, kinakailangan homeliners pa rin tayo dahil ‘yan lang po talaga ang pamamaraan para ma-flatten (That’s why we’re appealing to the public that even though we partially opened the economy, we still need to stay at home because that’s the only way to flatten the curve),” he added.

Early this week, Duque said that the country was already experiencing the second wave of COVID-19 only to retract it on Thursday after other high-ranking government officials said otherwise.

In his interview with Unang Hirit, Roque said someone should be held responsible for the confusion the blunder caused the public.

“Sana po (I hope),” he said when asked if someone should be responsible.

“Hinahayaan ko na muna po ‘yan sa liderato ng ating pamahalaan. Alam niyo naman po tagapagsalita lang po ako (I leave that to the leadership of the administration. I’m only the spokesman),” he added.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/22/palace-on-flattening-covid-19-curve-were-getting-there/