It’s no wonder that the Philippines breached the one-million mark on its positive cases of COVID-19, President Duterte noted on Wednesday, April 28, as he mentioned how Filipinos are unmindful of protocols and laws.
“We have breached the million mark and it does not really surprise me. From a distance, nakikita ko talaga (I’m really seeing it). Everytime I see people violating the law, I would just say to whoever seated next to me, sabihin ko: ‘Tingnan mo ito (I will say: ‘Look at this) tomorrow there will be spike again’,” he said during his televised address to the nation.
The Chief Executive underscored the importance of public compliance to health protocols and vaccination against COVID-19.
“There will always be rise and maybe exponential ang takbo ng COVID sa Pilipinas ‘pag hindi kayo sumunod ng batas (COVID’s run in the Philippines will be exponential if you do not follow the law,” Duterte warned.
The President added that this will “never be an ending story until all Filipinos are vaccinated.”
The country recorded 1,006,428 cases on April 26, Monday, which was the President’s usual schedule for his talk to the nation. He, however, postponed the public address to Wednesday for the announcement of the new quarantine classification.
As of Wednesday, the Philippines has 1,020,495 total cases of COVID with 67,769 active cases, 935,695 recovered cases, and a 1.67 percent fatality rate.
Despite the President’s pronouncement that Filipinos need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the country’s vaccination program is moving in a snail's pace. Less than one percent of the population has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine despite the arrival of vaccines two months ago.