President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure that all campaign activities adhere to health protocols amid the looming threat of new Covid-19 variants.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to call the attention of the Comelec. You are the ones supervising the elections. As a matter of fact, you are the one running the show. Could you not just issue a \u2026i-maintain lang yung social distance (maintain social distance in campaign events),\u201d he said in a prerecorded public address.<\/p>\n
Duterte warned that failure to observe health protocols amid large gatherings could lead to a \u201cworse\u201d resurgence in Covid-19 infections.<\/p>\n
\u201cHindi na paano — gaano karami. Punuin mo yung Luneta (It doesn\u2019t matter how many people there are. You can occupy Luneta) as long as you maintain the regulations imposed by government kasi mahirap ito kung magbalik (Because it\u2019s going to be a problem if it returns). It might come back with vengeance. Babalik itong sakit na ito baka magrabe pa (It might come back even worse). We are not out of the woods. The virus is still there,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He called on those participating in large gatherings, whether political in nature or not, to continue exercising \u201cutmost caution and prudence\u201d in the conduct of their exercises.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember that we are still in a pandemic situation and any large gathering may trigger a super spreader event. While we welcome these exercises are concrete and tangible manifestations of our health democracy, kindly temper your enthusiasm and act reasonably,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He clarified that it was not the government\u2019s intention to prevent people from assembling and petitioning the government for redress of grievances, but noted that it is better to be safe than suffer the consequences of being complacent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the virus still there, yung status natin na national emergency nandiyan pa. So hanggang talagang safe na (our status under a national emergency is still there. So until it\u2019s really safe), the doctors will say and the scientists will tell us that it is safe to move around and go out and mingle again in a crowd, hintayin muna natin \u2018yan (let\u2019s wait for it). In the meantime, let us not presuppose that as long as there is a vaccine available to all, do not ever ever presume na wala na yung (that there is no) danger of recontamination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Duterte welcomed data that showed a drop in daily Covid-19 cases across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cSa awa ng Diyos (With the mercy of God), since the last time we held our talk to the people on December 6, Covid-19 cases all over the country have averaged below 600 daily with most of the days tallying just around 300 and 400 cases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the total number of positive Covid-19 cases in the country, occupancy rate of ICU, isolation, and ward beds as well as the usage rate of ventilators in Metro Manila and around the country also went down to its lowest levels in recent months.<\/p>\n
Despite these developments, he reiterated his call to continue observing minimum public health standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile these are indeed encouraging developments, I still urge our countrymen to continue observing health protocols. \u2018Yan lang gyud ang pag-asa natin (It\u2019s our only hope). Stick to what is right and the right thing to do is just obey government kasi hindi naman kami nagpapalabas ng mga regulasyon na nakakasira sa tao (because we won\u2019t release regulations that would harm you). It\u2019s always for the good of everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also heaved a sigh of relief that more people were getting inoculated against Covid-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cMabuti\u2019t nalang siguro at mabuti nang nabakunahan, medyo (It\u2019s good that people are getting vaccinated) there\u2019s a lesser casualty now. But do not tempt the gods,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
However, he said people should not keep their guard down especially amid the emergence of new Covid-19 variants such as Omicron.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Omicron a \u201cvariant of concern\u201d.<\/p>\n
To control the spread of Omicron, the Philippines has restricted countries at high risk of infection from entering the country and updated testing and quarantine protocols for travelers. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI\u2019d like to call the attention of the Comelec,” President Duterte said, urging the Commission on Elections to ensure that all campaign activities adhere to health protocols amid the looming threat of new Covid-19 variants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":[],"yoast_head":"\n