However, the Department of Health has been recording about 2,000 new COVID-19 cases a day for the past week.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) — Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez assured Filipinos on Monday that while President Rodrigo Duterte is eyeing to further open the economy following the arrival of the first batch of vaccines, the government will continue to strictly implement health protocols.
“Hindi po ‘yan reckless. Lahat ay planado. We are still looking for ways para maluwagaan ito without shifting to MGCQ (modified general community quarantine). May mga binubuksan naman tayong mga sectors na dahan-dahan. It will allow more economic activities,” he said.
[Translation: That is not reckless. Everything is planned. We are still looking for ways to ease this without shifting to MGCQ. We are opening more sectors slowly. It will allow more economic activities.]
He noted the Philippines’ COVID-19 cases have been “well-managed”.
“Nakikita naman natin na hindi lumubo ‘yung kaso, in fact bumaba pa. It proves na maganda ‘yung pagbukas kasi bumababa pa ‘yung COVID-cases,” he said.
[Translation: We’re seeing that the number of cases did not balloon, in fact it declined. This only proves that the reopening of the economy is good since COVID-19 cases are decreasing.]
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Meanwhile, Lopez also said the rollout of the vaccines will “bring heightened optimism” to everyone.
This as the Duterte administration continues to call on the public to follow health protocols, the official stressed.
After receiving 600,000 doses of COVID-19 shots from China’s government, Duterte said on Sunday he may allow more businesses to open once the country has secured at least 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines.
Dr. Guido David of OCTA Research over the weekend, however, warned uniform travel protocols may accelerate the spread of the virus, especially with new variants now present in the country.
In a virtual briefing, Lopez said the country has been gradually opening up the economy since July last year, yet Filipinos have not seen a surge in COVID-19 cases.
