Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 2) — A party-list representative has called on the government to conduct mass testing amid the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases.
In a statement on Sunday, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate stressed the need to intensify the “crucial” COVID-19 testing and contact tracing as the country witnesses the increase in cases just a few months after dealing with the highly transmissible Delta variant.
“We strongly call on President [Rodrigo] Duterte to finally listen to the repeated but unheeded call for free mass testing because the COVID-19 surges are becoming a vicious cycle,” he added.
Zarate also warned Filipinos “to be vigilant” as he claimed the government may use the current situation “as a prelude to another militaristic new lockdown.”
“As 2022 starts, our suffering people certainly want to see a government that finally listens to medical experts rather than military generals in dealing with the COVID pandemic,” he added.
On Dec. 31, the national government announced that Metro Manila would be placed under the stricter Alert Level 3 from Jan. 3-15 after the Department of Health confirmed three local cases of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.
READ: NCR back to Alert Level 3 on Jan. 3-15 due to local Omicron cases
On Saturday, the country logged 3,617 new COVID-19 cases. The last time the daily case count was over 3,000 was on Nov. 1 with 3,117.
