President vows to buy ‘miracle pill’ to kill virus, once it becomes available
Published June 16, 2020, 1:50 AM
President Duterte has vowed to purchase the “miracle pill” for the new coronavirus disease and supervise its distribution to the people once it becomes available in the market.
In his public address Monday night, the President voiced optimism about the potential remedy to the respiratory illness as the country’s cases of infections continued to increase.
“The only way to fight COVID is vaccine or maybe ‘yung miracle pill that would kill just as an antibiotic would kill a bacteria,” Duterte said.
“Now there is a pill, I hope it is true, na parang lalaban and it can maybe sabi kill the…’Yun ang maganda. Kapag ‘yun ang dumating, kapag available na, mag-order na ako then I will distribute (That’s good. If that becomes available, I will make an order then I will distribute them),” he said.
Duterte further said: “I will supervise the distribution of the whatever there is to guarantee that everybody gets a fair share of the medicine and the medical care.”
The President made the latest comments amid the global race to find a vaccine and cure to the deadly coronavirus disease.
The pandemic, which erupted in Wuhan, China late last year, has so far infected more than 7.9 million people and left 434,388 dead based on the global tracking of Johns Hopkins University. In the Philippines, the cases of coronavirus have soared to 26,420 as of June 15. Recoveries have reached 6,522 while deaths numbered 1,098.
Recently, the President sought to boost closer cooperation with China and India in fighting the pandemic, particularly in terms of access to the supply of medicines.
In a recent phone call, Duterte got the assurance from Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Philippines will be given priority access to potential coronavirus vaccine China is developing.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reportedly assured Duterte about the supply of affordable medicine and COVID-19 pharmaceutical products including hydroxychloroquine during their recent phone conversation.
In his remarks Monday, the President renewed his appeal to the public to observe health precautions, including safe distancing from others to avoid coronavirus infection. He said they should wash hands frequently and use disinfectant alcohol.
“Bear in mind you have a part in our collective effort to prevail against the pandemic. Magkaisa talaga tayo dito (Let us unite),” he said.
He said they should not follow others that have relaxed their lockdown but are now suffering with the surge in infections.
The President earlier ordered stricter lockdown restrictions in Cebu City due to the sharp rise in coronavirus cases and widespread community transmission. The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the highest of the four-tier quarantine classification, will remain in effect until the end of the month.
Talisay City, Cebu has shifted to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until the end of the month due to the same coronavirus spike.
The President, on the other hand, kept Metro Manila under the more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) from June 16 to June 30. Other places in the country were placed under GCQ and modified GCQ.
