News Roundup 15 July 2020
Jul 15, 2020 • 3 min Read
Confirmed COVID-19 infections in Philippines now at 58,850 | PHILSTAR.COM – The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the Philippines climbed to 58,850 Wednesday after 1,392 more people have contracted the severe respiratory illness. The department also reported 517 additional recoveries. To date, 20,976 people have survived the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines. But the illness claimed 11 new victims, bringing the total death toll to 1,614.
Cases still rising but Duque says Philippines has flattened coronavirus curve | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines, which is seeing a renewed surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases following the easing of containment measures, has “successfully” flattened the epidemic curve, the country’s health chief said Wednesday. “We have successfully flattened the curve since April,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said during the government’s pre-State of the Nation Address forum. Duque’s definition of flattening the curve goes against those in other countries where flattening means a consistent decrease in daily cases. In the Philippines, there has been a spike in coronavirus infections since the government began further relaxing quarantine rules last month. In justifying his pronouncement, Duque said this was based on longer case doubling time.
Escudero tells Duque: ‘Please just do your job without fooling yourself or us’ | INQUIRER.NET – After Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the Philippines has flattened the COVID-19 curve since April, Sorsogon Gov. Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Wednesday advised him to “just do your job as best as you can without fooling yourself or us.” In a tweet, the former Senator primarily recommended to the DOH chief that, “The first step po in solving a problem is admitting that we have a problem.” He also reminded Duque that: “Addressing a pandemic is never a propaganda war.” So, Escudero advised Duque, “Please just do your job as best you can without fooling yourself or us and pray really hard that all our efforts will bear fruit.”
Senators wary about house-to-house search for COVID-19 patients | Manila Bulletin – Senators on Wednesday, July 15, cautioned the government about the plan of law enforcement officers to conduct house-to-house searches for suspected COVID-19 sufferers, whether asymptomatic or with mild and severe symptoms. Senator Joel Villanueva said the plan could violate the Constitution, which guarantees the right of people against “unreasonable searches and seizures”. “I think this plan is impractical and again as a lot of us would say may run against the Constitutional prohibition on warrantless searches and seizures,” Villanueva said in an online interview with reporters.
No return to normal – WHO By Agence France-Presse | The Manila Times – GENEVA: Too many nations are mismanaging their coronavirus response, placing a return to normality a long way off, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) as Latin America recorded the world’s second-highest death toll. With new infections spreading like wildfire, many countries were reimposing restrictions, locking down towns and cities and reintroducing measures to halt the spread of the sickness. But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that too many countries were “headed in the wrong direction” with governments giving out mixed messages that were undermining trust. “There will be no return to the ‘old normal’ for the foreseeable future,” he said, warning that without governments adopting a comprehensive strategy, the situation would get “worse and worse and worse.”
