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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider WHO: If health protocols neglected, 300K active Covid-19 cases possible in PH by mid-May

WHO: If health protocols neglected, 300K active Covid-19 cases possible in PH by mid-May

Published Apr 18, 2022 02:23 pm

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, April 18, said the projection of at least 300,000 active cases of Covid-19 by mid-May is possible should the public continue to neglect minimum health and safety protocols.

Passers-by walk in front of a tarpaulin with images of frontliners wearing face mask at Eastwood City in Pasig on Feb. 6, 2021. (Photo by Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN)

It can be recalled that the Department of Health (DOH) recently said it is seeing a possible spike in the number of Covid-19 cases because of the increasing non-compliance to safety protocols such as wearing face masks.

“I have seen those numbers; we have to prove those numbers wrong. That’s the challenge we face if we have the low coverage that we have in vaccines in many barangays and many provinces. And if we relax our guards, our defenses, then yes it is possible to get to those numbers because, in South Korea which has half of the population of the Philippines, they already has 600,000 cases already, that’s huge,” said WHO representative to the Philippines Dr. Rajendra Yadav.

“There is no way of saying how that will affect the Philippines if we lower our guard. Good thing is that Filipinos are one of the best in terms of wearing masks, so that needs to continue.”

During the “Laging Handa” briefing, he noted that there was “some decline recently in mask-wearing.”

He stressed such must not happen and that Filipinos must keep on wearing face masks to protect themselves.

“We should cover our people with vaccines. So these are the two best things we can do---masking and vaccination,” Yadav added.

Despite the lowering number of cases, the Philippines has not yet eased its health and safety protocols. People are still required to wear face masks to stop the spread of Covid-19

Recently, President Duterte even said that the mask rule will stay until the end of his term.

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DR YADAV covid-19 health protocols WHO Face masks pandemic Philippines
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