MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed transparency on the cases of novel coronavirus or nCoV in the Philippines as he called for an end to finger-pointing over the spread of the disease.
Duterte said the government would not gain anything if it conceals information about the nCoV, which has infected more than 17,000 people worldwide and has so far claimed more than 300 lives.
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"This I can assure you, this government will never hide anything. If it says that you are going to die tomorrow because of this - it’s a contagion all over, we will tell you that," the President said in a press briefing in Malacañang Monday night.
"If it would cost your life, lives, we will not hide that. Why should we? It's a reality. Whether you admit it or not, you have to bury the dead. So what is there to hide? It's not a treasure. It is not something of value to us. It does not contribute to the national wealth. Why should we hide?" he added.
Duterte said government agencies would continue to update the media about the nCoV situation in the Philippines.
"Why should we hide it from the press? When we are supposed to tell the press, you - that go to the world and announce that there is this thing that's happening and this is what we should be doing," he added.
There have been two confirmed cases of nCoV in the Philippines, both of them Chinese nationals. One of them, a 44-year-old man, has died while his companion, a 38-year-old woman and the country's first confirmed NCoV case, is confined at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
The Health department announced the first NCoV case in the Philippines last January 30. Health officials reported the death of the male Chinese patient three days later, the same day they confirmed that he is the second case of nCoV in the Philippines.
When Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reported the first NCoV case in the country last Thursday, he mentioned that the female patient had a companion who was also sick. Research Institute for Tropical Medicine Director Celia Carlos had explained that the male Chinese was "not as ill" at the time the Health department was holding the press briefing. His illness "progressed subsequently" and eventually led to his death, she said.
'Stop the Sinophobia'
Duterte also criticized what he called the "Sinophobia" triggered by the spread of the virus.
"It happened in China on - at least the first, that's it. But that is not the fault of anybody. Not of the Chinese, not of the Filipinos, not of anyone," the President said.
"Stop this Sinophobia thing," he added.
Duterte also rejected calls to impose a ban on all Chinese travelers, calling it an "utter disrespect to a human being."
"You hate anything that is Chinese. It is not good... One is that we have many Filipinos in China. Second is even if there are none, you know, we are a community of nations. We cooperate. China has been kind to us. We can only also show the same favor to them," the president said.
"If there are Chinese found positive and we do not want them to travel to further aggravate the situation, we can assure the Chinese government that we too will help," he added.
Duterte also claimed that "all is well" in the Philippines and predicted that the NCoV will die a "natural death."