DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday praised the overall practice of Filipinos that helped reduced COVID-19 cases in the country, a feat that must be emulated.
During his weekly Talk to the People, President Duterte expressed his gratitude for the “decorum” exhibited by the country’s law enforcers in implementing the government-mandated health guidelines.
“There is no telling that one of these days, another vicious virus will visit the country or the world all over. At panibagong ano ito, far different from what we have now,” President Duterte said.
“It would not be us who would face that problem anymore but the incoming or whoever wins, dapat malaman nila ito na the good practices of the Philippines,” he added.
During his weekly address, President Duterte asked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on how the Philippines reduced the number of COVID-19 infections, comparing the county’s case with other wealthy nations.
Duque told President Duterte that vaccination, natural immunity, and adherence to the minimal public health standards have contributed to the drop in COVID-19 infections in the country.
Compared to other nations in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has the lowest daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people at 8.82, according to the health secretary.
Singapore has 3,000 plus per million population; Vietnam, 1,300; and Malaysia, 845.
He went on to say that the instances in other nations will decrease as well, adding that the Philippines was the first to experience a rise in cases in January.
According to Duque, new COVID-19 cases were just 700 or so on March 7, the seventh day in a row that the country had fewer than 1,000 new cases.
The health chief added the country’s mortality rate is also lower than the global average of 2.04 percent, at 1.5 percent. Countries like the United States has far more caseload than the Philippines considering it is far more advanced in terms of military, science, and research and development (R&D).
The concept of a new normal, he said, will be accepting that the virus will persist and that people would have to learn to live with it.
