Once the number of daily cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) drops to three or two digits, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año assured on Monday that the one meter physical distance between passengers in mass transportation will be reduced.
"Pag bumababa na tayo sa three digits at two digits ay pwede na tayo mag-reduce ng distancing (Once the average daily COVID-19 cases drops to three or two digits, then we can reduce distancing,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines.
“Ibig sabihin, konti na talaga yung infection natin (This means we have fewer infections),” he added.
The secretary pointed this out following the decision of President Duterte to retain the one meter distance between passengers in public transportation.
Año said that neighboring Asian countries which decided to relax restrictions in mass transportation have reduced daily cases.
Thailand has an average of three COVID-19 cases per day, Malaysia has 25 cases, Singapore has 61 cases, South Korea has 234 cases, and Japan has 763 cases.
“Ang layo ng diperensya para sabihin natin na pwede na tayong magluwag at mag-reduce ng physical distancing (The difference is so wide for us to relax and reduce physical distancing),” said Año.
The secretary noted that the Philippines has a daily average of 3,500 COVID-19 cases.
“So pababain natin ito to three digits or double digit na lang then we can relax a lot of things including mass transport (So let’s reduce the number of cases to three or double digits so that we can relax a lot of things including mass transport),” he said.