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DPA
Manila
The Philippines on Sunday reported a record 5,032 additional coronavirus infections, pushing the country’s total caseload to over 100,000, as medical frontliners warned that the country was losing the battle against COVID-19.
The death toll from COVID-19 also rose to 2,059, following 20 additional deaths, the Department of Health said.
Of the additional cases, 2,114 were infections confirmed in the past three days, while 2,918 were confirmed previously but only later added to the tally, the department said.
The country’s total stood at 103,185 as of Sunday, it added.
The spike in the number of infections has prompted doctors, nurses and other health care workers to call on the government to re-impose a lockdown in the capital of Manila to recalibrate the response to COVID-19.
In a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, medical groups from all over the country called for a two-week lockdown amid government efforts to re-open the economy by easing restrictions throughout the country.
Duterte was meeting with key cabinet members to discuss the medical frontliners’ appeal on Sunday, while members of an inter-agency task force on the coronavirus met with representatives of the medical groups on Saturday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, who was among those who met with the medical groups on Saturday, said it would be “difficult” and “damaging” to people’s health if a lockdown was imposed as it would trigger more unemployment and poverty.
Lopez said there were other ways to address the concerns of the health workers, such as localized lockdowns, mass tracing, testing, isolation and treatment, as well as stricter compliance with health protocols in tranportation and business establishments.
Manila
The Philippines on Sunday reported a record 5,032 additional coronavirus infections, pushing the country’s total caseload to over 100,000, as medical frontliners warned that the country was losing the battle against COVID-19.
The death toll from COVID-19 also rose to 2,059, following 20 additional deaths, the Department of Health said.
Of the additional cases, 2,114 were infections confirmed in the past three days, while 2,918 were confirmed previously but only later added to the tally, the department said.
The country’s total stood at 103,185 as of Sunday, it added.
The spike in the number of infections has prompted doctors, nurses and other health care workers to call on the government to re-impose a lockdown in the capital of Manila to recalibrate the response to COVID-19.
In a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, medical groups from all over the country called for a two-week lockdown amid government efforts to re-open the economy by easing restrictions throughout the country.
Duterte was meeting with key cabinet members to discuss the medical frontliners’ appeal on Sunday, while members of an inter-agency task force on the coronavirus met with representatives of the medical groups on Saturday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, who was among those who met with the medical groups on Saturday, said it would be “difficult” and “damaging” to people’s health if a lockdown was imposed as it would trigger more unemployment and poverty.
Lopez said there were other ways to address the concerns of the health workers, such as localized lockdowns, mass tracing, testing, isolation and treatment, as well as stricter compliance with health protocols in tranportation and business establishments.
