MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines cannot afford a second or third wave of coronavirus pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte said, as he warned the public that being complacent could cost lives even in areas where quarantine measures have been eased.
Duterte noted that the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 persists even if the government is slowly relaxing lockdown restrictions.
"We will (ease the restrictions) gradually so we won't fall...Because we cannot afford a second or third wave. This would happen if people many people catch the virus because there are rules that were not followed," the president said in a televised address aired Tuesday.
"The easing up of the restrictions does not mean COVID is gone...COVID is very lethal. Do not gamble with COVID because once you get infected, it can go either way. You either go to the funeral home or sleep at home. If you sleep at the funeral home, you won't wake up anymore. They will fetch you there to be cremated," he added.
The government has eased quarantine restrictions in most parts of the country except Metro Manila, Cebu City, and Laguna which will remain under "modified enhanced community quarantine" until May 31. Officials followed the recommendation of the World Health Organization, which has warned that prematurely easing lockdowns coulld lead to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
Duterte reminded the public to observe social distancing and to weak masks when leaving their houses. He said such measures have to be followed until a COVID-19 vaccine is discovered.
"Do not go out of your house without a mask. That is a must. Must comply. The police will remind you. 'My friend, step aside. you do not have mask. Where is your mask?' If you do not have a mask, you would endanger the person in front of you," the president said.
"If you want to die, it's OK. But the one in front of you may die even if it's not yet time to go just because you do not want to comply," he added.
Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the national policy on COVID-19, said the government cannot afford to prolong the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) because of its limited resources. Under ECQ, public transportation is suspended and only essential services like those related to food production and health are allowed to operate.
"In the absence of a vaccine, all what we can do is prevent and contain it and mitigate its impact. The government, however, cannot endure the ECQ for extended period of time as its resources are very limited. Hence, it has to balance between health and economy," Galvez said during the meeting of the government's pandemic task force last Monday.
Galvez said the the national action plan on the pandemic has been updated and would focus on the carriers of the virus.
"Our revised operational framework added the prevention prior to detection phase and the adoption of the end-to-end T3 management system for COVID-19 carriers, which mean test, trace and treat," he said.